If the welcome was grand, the farewell is as good.
The Bihar government, and the city, greeted the lakhs of devotees for Prakash Utsav with open arms and when the visitors started on their way back home on Friday, arrangements were made to ensure none of them had any problem.
Thousands of Sikhs left for Punjab with fond memories and high regard for chief minister Nitish Kumar's grand preparations for the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh. Ten trains, including Patna-Amritsar special train, Patna-Anandpur Sahib special train, Patna-Jalandhar and Patna-Ludhiana, left from the Patna Junction on Friday.
To ensure the devotees left with memories to cherish, railway staff and officials made a round of the platforms where the special trains were waiting to depart.
With small loudspeakers in their hands, the staff members chanted Jo Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akal, the traditional Punjabi greeting, and the devotees in the trains joined in with holy hymns and words of praise for Nitish.
"We had never imagined we would receive such a rousing welcome in Patna, our Guru's birthplace," said Kamaljeet Singh, a farmer from Kapurthala district of Punjab, who left by the Patna-Hoshiarpur special train. "The government, police personnel and even people were so cooperative. We are taking back some fond memories from Bihar."
Kamaljeet's group of more than 50 people from Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts arrived in the city on January 2, and stayed at the Gandhi Maidan tent city. To ensure they had a comfortable stay, the government had set up 238 dormitories at Gandhi Maidan with 15,000 beds and all the facilities such pillow, bed sheet, blanket, room heater and mobile phone chargers.
If the stay was comfortable at the three tent cities, the government and the Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Patna Sahib, made elaborate arrangements for a memorable journey too.
There was free bus services from the three tent cities (Gandhi Maidan, Bypass and Kangan Ghat) to Patna Junction, Rajendra Nagar terminal, Patna Sahib station, Danapur and even Hajipur.
The tourism department ran 125 buses for Prakash Utsav. Besides, as an initiative of the tourism department and the gurdwara committee, a booklet featuring the life and teachings of Guru Gobind Singh was given to the devotees.
Jagjit Singh, a businessman from Ludhiana who also left for home on Friday, said: "It was wonderful stay at Patna. As there was a free bus service we visited various places associated with Guru Gobind Singh. On returning, the officials and sewadars presented us with a booklet on Prakash Utsav and food packets."
Harjot Kaur, the principal secretary of the tourism department, the nodal agency for Prakash Utsav, said: "The success of Prakash Utsav is not just the success of the government but also the love and affection of the people who made the festival a grand success."
Kaur added: "We have come to know that many people in Patna City offered free tea to the devotees as a welcome gesture, shopkeepers gave them water bottles at the manufacturing price. The devotees were also overwhelmed with not only the state government preparations but also the respect shown by the chief minister at the festival."
Chief minister Nitish Kumar visited the Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib Patna on Thursday midnight and paid his obeisance at the gurdwara. Flowers were showered at the durbar hall to make the celebration a grand affair.
