TAXILA: Sikhs from across the world started pouring into the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal on Sunday to celebrate the festival of Besakhi starting today.
Followers of Sikhism, who are coming from even from Canada and the United States as well as different parts of Pakistan, including the restive tribal region, will be renewing the pledge to exercise brotherhood and harmony, as enshrined in the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib – the last Guru of the Sikh religion.
Besakhi has its own sights and sounds and the Sikh community celebrates it to lift up their spirits and add colour to life.
The three-day festival starting Monday will mark the beginning of Sikhs’ New Year and founding of Khalsa Panth in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj, with whom the miraculous tales of Punja (hand print) are associated.
The Khalsa Panth was meant for protecting sanctity of Sikhism and fighting out social evils. According to Sikh religion mythology, the Guru undertook days long meditation and prepared an ‘Amrit’ that was provided to those followers who were going to be the part of the revered Khalsa Panth. Drinking the ‘Amrit’ was a sort of oath or commitment to wage struggle against atrocities and social evils.
Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj was born in Patna (Indian) and later migrated to Hassanabdal in Pakistan, where he continued preaching Sikhism.
Sikhs believe that during his stay at Hassanabdal, Guru Gobind Sahib Maharaj was one day refused water from a local preacher and on insistence, a huge stone was hurled on the followers of the Sikh religion from the top of a hill. The Sikhs believe that when Guru Gobind Singh stopped this stone with his hand, it miraculously turned into a loaf of wax and still bears the imprint of the Punja of the Guru. They declare the Punja imprint, a symbol of Shanti (peace) and a source of inspiration to motivate them to piety and brotherhood.
They touch the handprint of Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj with a belief that its touching mitigates their miseries and hardships. The continuously oozing water from underneath this stone affix in the premises of Gurdwara Punja Sahib is also described as a miracle of the Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj.
Sikhs also take bath (Ashnan) in this water. Ashnan takes place twice a day, early in the morning and at sunset, and is followed by worship.
The followers also keep embracing five ‘Ks’ – the Kaccha (shorts), the Kanga (comb), the Kara (bracelet), the Kesh (hair) and the Kirpan (sword). Embracing all these five Ks are obligatory in their religion.
This three-day event of Besakhi starts every year on first day of Besakh, the fifth month of the Bikrami calendar (April 12) with the recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Followers recite this 1,430-page scripture during these three days without a break, thus performing their sacred duty one after the other.
The celebrations culminate with the end of the recitation on the third-day of Besakh (April 14) and the ‘Bhog,’ the ending rite, takes place.
Then the followers perform ‘Keerthan’ for their purification and redressal of their problems. Keerthan is followed by ‘Ardaas’ (Dua) where the followers seek divine forgiveness of their follies.
During their stay at the Gurdwara, Sikh yatrees (pilgrims) sleep on the floor as a ritual and the requirement of their belief. Besakhi Festival is celebrated throughout the world, but its celebrations in Pakistan bear special significance for being the birth place of founder of the Sikh religion, Baba Guru Nanak, at Nankana Sahib, and settlement of their last human Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj, at Hassanabdal.
Meanwhile, the Punjab home department has imposed a complete ban on the movement of Indian Sikh yatrees to the places for which they did not have visas.
In a circular sent to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and law enforcement agencies, the home department said it was their duty to provide all facilities and protection to Sikh yatrees. However, it was important for their safety to stop them from visiting the places for which they were not issued visa by the Pakistani High Commission in India.
The circular directed the law enforcement agencies to ensure the ban at any cost, adding that the Pakistanis taking yatrees to cities for which they were not issued visas would be dealt with strictly.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/03-over-1000-sikh-pilgrims-arrive-in-pakistan-ss-16
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