Chief minister Nitish Kumar today flagged off a jagriti yatra from the Takht Shri Harmandir Sahib to create awareness and invite people to the 350th Prakash Parv or birth anniversary celebrations of the 10th Sikh guru, Gobind Singh.
The yatra will move through 16 states and return to Patna by December 13 - just in time for the massive celebrations that will start on December 30 and continue till January 8. Around 4 lakh devotees from the world over are expected to attend the event, preparations for which are in the final stages.
Nitish connected Prakash Parv with Bihar's pride, saying he was fortunate to get an opportunity to flag off the yatra. He appealed to devotees to come to Patna to participate in the event and promised all help from the state government and its people in preparations for the grand occasion.
"I feel fortunate to be present here," Nitish said on the occasion. "Lakhs of devotees, not just from our own country but from various parts of the globe, are expected to attend the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh. I pray to them to come here to pay obeisance. I can just assure them that the state government and the people of Bihar will make all possible arrangements for the comfort of the devotees."
Elaborating on the preparations for the mega event, the chief minister said that an International Sikh Conclave was held in this connection. Scholars from India and abroad had attended the conclave and discussed the preparations.
"The administration is making all preparations after talking to the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and the people," the chief minister said. "The area where Patna Sahib is located is a very congested one and the pathways have been narrow since early days. Keeping this in our mind, we have renovated all paths leading to the venue. Road over-bridges have also been constructed across railway lines in the area. Full attention will also be paid to cleanliness and sanitation."
Nitish added that like during the 300th birth anniversary celebrations, facilities would be provided to devotees at the Gandhi Maidan, while tent cities were coming up at at Kangan Ghat near the Harmandir Sahib, Gandhi Maidan and other places.
Hotels, dormitories and home stay options will also be available for the visitors, as reported earlier.
Nitish said everything was being monitored at the chief-secretary level and former Bihar chief secretary G.S. Kang has been roped in to coordinate between people, committees, and the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. Kang is also heading a committee formed to provide consultations for better organisation of the event. "Prakash Parv is a prestigious occasion for the people of Bihar. We take pride in our history," the chief minister said. "When people thank us for our preparations, we tell them that we don't want it. Instead, we need their goodwill and blessings so that everything is organised nicely and people remember it."
The government has already declated a three-day public holiday in January to mark the 350th Prakash Parv. It will be restricted to Patna but could be extended to the entire state later.
Takht Sri Harimandir Sahib Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee general secretary Sarjinder Singh, who is accompanying the jagriti yatra in its first leg, told The Telegraph that the yatra will move through Jharkhand, Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh before returning to Patna.
"We are carrying the message of Guru Gobind Singh, providing information to people about the birth anniversary celebrations and inviting them to come to Patna Sahib. Right now 200 devotees are part of this yatra, but more people will join it along the way," Sarjinder said. The procession will also visit Nanded in Maharasthra, the place where the Guru was assassinated.
A hand-written Guru Grant Sahib belonging to the time of Guru Gobind Singh (AD 1666 to 1708), 16 different types of weapons used by him - including sword, spear, arrow and dagger - are also being carried along with the yatra and will be exhibited en route. Bihar police officials and Patna Sahib's own guards are providing protection to the priceless artifacts.
Guru Govind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, was born in Patna to Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, and Mata Gujri on December 22, 1666. His birthday is celebrated on the seventh day of Poush in the Hindi calendar.
The place where he was born is now marked as Takht Shri Harmandir Sahib or Patna Sahib. The Bihar government will spend Rs 100 crore on the arrangements and the celebrations.
The guru has mentioned Patna in his autobiography ( Bachitra Natak). In memory of the Sikh Guru, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) - the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire - built the Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib at Patna City between 1837 and 1839.
