Guru Granth Sahib installation ceremony
by Ravinder Singh Robin

         Amritsar: The Akhand Path or the non- stop reading of the holy book started at Gurudwara Ramsar Sahib here today, marking the 400th ceremony of installation of Guru Granth Sahib. The SGPC has appealed to all Indians and NRIs the world over to illuminate their homes and commercial establishments on September 1 to honour the installation ceremony in the Golden Temple here. A Nagar Kirtan would be taken out on September 1 from Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib to the Shri Darbar Sahib. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will head the celebrity list of those attending the festivities. Former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chandra Shekhar and Inder Kumar Gujral, the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, and former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani would also be present. While Kalam will arrive here tomorrow on a five-hour visit, the Prime Minister will attend the main function on September 1. The Punjab Government is expecting a turnout of three million devotees on that day.

         A jatha of over 1000 Pakistani Sindhis and Sikhs arrived here today at Attari railway station to mark the celebrations. This is for the first time that Sindhis who have immense faith in Guru Nanak arrived India. All of them were visibly happy about their presence in India to attend the celebrations. SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal, the former president of the SGPC, Bibi Jagir Kaur, the General Secretary of the SAD and Daljeet Singh Cheema were among some of the dignitaries who received the 1030 devotees led by Hari Singh from Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is making arrangements for the preparation of a Langar for the devotees visiting the holy city to participate in the event. Though the SGPC has installed an automatic chapatti-making machine, the devotees have reportedly expressed a desire for hand made chapatis. The automatic chapatti machines cook 6000 and 4000 chapatis an hour with mill-refined flour and locally available flour respectively. Fifty cooking gas cylinders are being used in a day in the SGPC's kitchen. Bhupinder Singh, the person managing the operations at the Langar, said that on an average, 14 quintals of dal, four quintals of rice and about 400 kilogram of flour were being used daily, besides two quintals of sugar, ten kg of tea leaves and eight quintals of milk. "The Langar would be 4 times more than what we usually do everyday. We are making sure that we don't fall short of anything. We have sufficient amounts of pulses, grams, rice, sugar and other things," said Bhupinder Singh. "The machines will run 24 hours. We have hired 200 more people to help us. There are people to serve, and for other things as well. We'll have extra rows for Langar," he added. As many as 7000 and 4000 devotees sit at the lower and upper floors respectively of the Langar hall. One round of food distribution takes about 30 minutes.
Aug 30, 2004

Somvati Amavasya: Hindus take dip in Ganga

         Hardwar: Lakhs of Hindus took bath in the Ganga on the occasion of Somvati Amavasya on Monday. Worshippers from across the country had begun converging along the banks of the Ganges from midnight to take the holy dip. Dinesh Chand, a devotee, said: "Somvati Amavasya is a very big event. With this holy dip we can attain salvation." Local priests added to the significance of the event even as it was after a number of years the night without moon had come during the monsoons. "The significance of this event is that this time it is after many years that the Amavasya has come during the rains. This month is also called as Adhik Mass," Sahib Ram, a priest, said. The last time the Somvati Amavasya had fallen on a Monday in 1996. Unfortunately, several people had died in a violent stampede then.
Aug 16, 2004

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