Devotees pay tribute to Guru Nanak at Gurdwara Singh Sabha. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 17: People of different classes, communities and creeds gathered here at Gurdwara Singh Sabha to celebrate the 545th Prakash Utsav, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The gurdwara reverberated with Gurubani, kirtans and bhajans the entire day.

The akhand path, the continuous recitation of the complete Guru Granth Sahib that began on Friday, concluded at 10am today. After the akhand path, devotees started singing hymns in praise of the first Sikh guru.

About 10,000 people visited the gurdwara today. Amarjit Singh, 57, who was born and brought up in Bhubaneswar, was happy to see that non-Punjabis had come in large numbers.

“You can see for yourself. About half of the people present here are not followers of Sikhism. They have come solely to celebrate with us. This is exactly the spirit of humanity and brotherhood that Guru Nanak Devji has preached us,” said Singh, a member of the Sabha.

Talwinder Singh, a resident of Satya Nagar said: “The symbol of ‘Ik Onkar’ teaches us that God is one.”

While visitors got drenched in spirituality by singing hymns, others took time to savour the prasad at the langar. Schoolchildren, college goers and others were seen doing voluntary service known as kar seva.

“We do not eat until we have fed all the visitors,” said Satbir Arora, a youngster who, along with his friends, was seen distributing rice, chapattis, dal, sabzi, jalebis and yogurt.

The sonorous choir of three kirtan singers named Charanjeet Singh Heera came from New Delhi to sing the hymns. Many children eagerly waited for the evening to see grand display of fireworks and gatka, a martial art form.

Believers also thronged the premises for the evening aarti.