Patna is just like home for the pilgrims from Punjab who have put up at the Kangan Ghat tent city.

One of the three tent cities set up in the city for Prakash Utsav, the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh, Kangan Ghat has come alive with the arrival of nearly 250 pilgrims. Most of the people from Punjab feel right at home.

The tent city at Kangan Ghat in Patna City can accommodate 40,000 pilgrims. Government officials said nearly 200 people have reached from Punjab and another 50 from Nepal by Tuesday.

Tailor-shop owner in Ludhiana Bhupendra Singh (65), who has come with wife Harjot Kaur, son Harminder Singh and grandson Tajinder Singh, is just one among them.

"It does not feel like we are in a different city at all," said Harjot. "We saw several signposts here with names of areas written in Punjabi. It feels like we are somewhere in Punjab."

Bhupendra said: "We reached Patna Sahib station in the morning, and right from there we could feel the positivity in the air. There was a help desk at the station with volunteers to help us reach our destinations. The station looks wonderful, it seems like a gurdwara."

Another group at Kangan Ghat is of 20 doctors from Punjab, mostly Amritsar and Gurdaspur, who arrived on Monday night. "We deal with different disciplines of medicine such as allopathy, homeopathy and ayurveda," said Ravi Kant Sharma, one of the doctors in the group. "We will set up a 24x7 medical camp on Wednesday to offer sewa (service) to Prakash Utsav in any way we can."

Like Bhupendra's family, Ravi Kant also appreciated arrangements at the tent city. "We reached after a 30-hour train journey," he said. "We have been provided with proper beds, quilts and blowers in the tents. All arrangements are in place."

Gurinder Singh, one among the doctor delegation, had visited Patna around 15 years ago and this time, he noticed a sea change. "The city looks cleaner than before. I also found shops open at night, which I never saw last time," said Gurinder.

"Our train reached around 2am on Monday and all the shops - between Patna Sahib and the Kangan Ghat tent city around 2.5km away - were open at that time. Chief minister Nitish Kumar should be given credit for this change. It is only because of him that Prakash Utsav has become such a big event. Making accommodation facilities for such a large group of people is a daunting task and the government has proved its mettle."

Simranjot, one of the officials deputed at the administrative lounge of Kangan Ghat, said 150 pilgrims are expected from Nepal on Wednesday, apart from others from across the country.

Sources said the pilgrims initially faced slight problems because of lack of drinking water and glitches in the bathrooms' water connection on Tuesday, but 40 plumbers were put to work to correct the situation.