Sample this for pilgrims' progress: 300 Sikhs have travelled 1,500km from Amritsar to Patna on trucks with three huge kadhais (cooking vessel), 500kg besan (gram powder), 300kg wheat flour, 200kg ghee and 500kg sugar.
They arrived outside Guru ka Bagh in Patna City last week and are here to attend the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh and take part in langar seva (free meal service).
Leading the jattha (group) are Baba Avtar Singh and Baba Bidhi Chand. "We reached here on December 12 and we will be here till January 6," said Swarn Singh, a jattha member. "Throughout this period, we will organise langars from morning to night. We are providing everything, right from chai (tea) to a heavy breakfast and lunch, followed by dinner. Work has been divided.
"The women (there are 80 of them) make chapatis and clean dishes while the men make curry and sweets. Our halwais (cooks) are toiling day and night to make various types of sweetmeat. Boondi, jalebi, shakarpara and nine other kinds of sweets are being served at the langar."
They have brought along large containers, a huge dough maker and also a huge grinder. "We have brought three huge kadhais, weighing around five quintals each," said Mukhtar Singh, another jattha member.
"The group came in three trucks. The members filled up two trucks while the third truck carried just the food and cooking items. In short, the third truck is like our kirana (grocery) store."
So what happens once all the grocery in the third truck is exhausted? Will they buy stuff from the local market here? "No, no," insists Baba Burrsang, another jathha member. "Two more trucks will be arriving in the next few days. One of the two trucks will be laden with food items and the other one will ferry more cooks."
Mukhtar's wife Gurmeet Kaur said it was not easy organising a langar on such a humongous scale.
"We have to wake up around 3am to look after the preparations," she said. The women and children have been resting in tents pitched by the men in the group outside Guru ka Bagh."Even in this cold weather, we cannot wear slippers all day, as we are preparing langar, which is prasad (ambrosia). But all this is worth it. It is our privilege to be here at Guru Gobind Singh's birthplace to organise a month-long langar during his 350th birth anniversary celebrations."
The jathha members will do more than just serve food and take part in the prayers. They will add to Prakash Utsav's grandeur as they are also bringing a pair of elephants and around 50 horses from Amritsar to be engaged during the Nagar-Kirtan ceremony (procession to be organised by the temple management committee of Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib) during Prakash Utsav.
Two steamers arrived on Monday at Kangan Ghat in Patna City to ferry devotees from Gandhi Ghat to Kangan Ghat via Gai Ghat, free of cost, during Prakash Utsav.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) provided the steamers. IWAI vice-chairman Pravir Pandey even met district administration officials to discuss the preparedness for running steamers during Prakash Utsav.
The state government has put up tent cities at a few places, including Gandhi Maidan, to house the pilgrims streaming into the city for the religious occasion.
Also on Monday, the Patna Municipal Corporation brought seven water tankers to provide drinking water facility to the pilgrims.
On Sunday, chief minister Nitish Kumar had reviewed preparations and complained about lack of civic sense at some places.
