Patna: UK-based voluntary organisation Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jattha has decided to develop Sheetal Kund near the Rajgir Gurdwara into a tourist spot.

The Jattha, run by a charity group, took the initiative on the request of chief minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish was scheduled to lay the foundation stone on December 21 last year, but the programme was deferred.

The chairman of the Birmingham-based Jattha, Bhai Sahab Bhai Mohinder Singh, a retired civil engineer, said the blueprint of the project to develop Sheetal Kund gurdwara has already been prepared.

"The Jattha will bear whatever funds are required. Sheetal Kund gurdwara is the first project taken up by the Jattha after Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib in Patna City," said Mohinder.

Mohinder, who left for London after the concluding ceremony of Prakash Utsav, told The Telegraph that the organisation would take up other gurdwaras in Bihar if need be.

Sheetal Kund at Rajgir in Nalanda district, around 100km southeast of Patna, is associated with Guru Nanak. It is believed the Guru Nanak visited the Kund with two disciples, Bala and Mardana, about 450 years ago.

"Mardana, a Muslim, suddenly felt thirsty. After taking permission from Sri Guru Nanak Dev, he went to a nearby kund (waterhole) which was hot. Unable to quench his thirst, he returned and requested the Guru to help him. After repeated requests, the Guru visited the waterfall. When Guru Nanak Dev's feet touched the water, it cooled down, earning its name Sheetal Kund," said Trilok Singh Nishad, chairman of Shree Sanatani Sikh Sabha.

Melbourne-based Inderjeet Singh, who prepared the blueprint of decoration and accommodation for the Sikh devotees during Prakash Utsav, also wished to contribute to the development of gurdwaras in Bihar. "I am ready to render my service either to the state government or a voluntary organisation which wants to develop gurdwaras as tourist destinations," he told The Telegraph before leaving for Australia on December 26.