Patna, Dec. 5: Tusi sade mehman ho (you are my guest), ki tuhano sadi kuj madad chahidi hain (do you need my help?).

Devotees coming to participate in the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna should not feel surprised if residents greet them with these words.

As part of an exercise to make the city Sikh-friendly for Prakash Utsav, the district administration is training volunteers (to be engaged at the mega event) in Punjabi. Around five lakh devotees from around the world are set to participate in the event.

"The idea is to make Sikh devotees, who would be coming here, feel at home. We will set up 65 help desks in important areas such as Patna Junction and the airport among other places," district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said.

"It would have officials of various departments, including district administration, tourism, health, apart from having a volunteer who would be able to interact with the devotees in Punjabi. We have trained the volunteers on how to greet the devotees by using phrases like Sat Sri Akal, tusi sade mehman ho (you are my guest), aur twada ki haal hai (and how are you?), ki tuhano sadi kuj madad chahidi hain (Do you need my help),"

In another Sikh-friendly initiative, the administration has started adding Punjabi language in Patna's signposts.

"This is being done so that devotees don't face any problem in reaching the destination," said divisional commissioner Anand Kishore, adding that so far the language has been added to 34 signposts in Patna City.

Among the other initiatives, the administration is going to install Cell on Wheels at Gandhi Maidan and Bypass tent city apart from Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib - the main shrine where the event will be held.

The Cell on Wheels is a mobile phone tower mounted on a vehicle. It is a portable base phone station used to provide temporary cellular network coverage for high-profile events.

Agrawal said: "There will be one tower with multiple company receiver, including Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL among others so that devotees get uninterrupted mobile phone services at the three designated places," said Agarwal.

City hotels are also making changes in their menu to satiate the taste buds of Sikh devotees. While some have already decided the dishes, some are working on it.

Owner of Yellow Chilli Rupa Sinha said: "The menu has snacks like Dahi ke Sholay, which would be bread stuffed with curd mixture (curd mixed with capsicum, bell pepper) and dessert badami kesari rabri milk (prepared with milk, saffron, almonds). We are going to add many milk and curd items on the menu because most Sikhs love to have these at home."