Chandigarh, Nov 3, 2019: The Punjab government on November 3 said that it will provide free bus service for devotees visiting Sultanpur Lodhi for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.

In a statement, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said 1,500 buses would ply daily across the state from November 5 to 12 to take devotees to Sultanpur Lodhi, a Sikh pilgrimage site in Kapurthala district.

Buses have been allotted village and city wise in every assembly constituency so as to ensure that maximum number of devotees are able to make the pilgrimage.

The tourism department has also started a 24×7 toll free number, 1800-180-0550, to enable people to obtain any information with regard to the ‘Prakash Parv’ celebrations.

Thousands of devotees visit Sultanpur Lodhi daily to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Ber Sahib and other Sikh temples.

After Nanakana Sahib, Guru Nanak’s birthplace in Pakistan, Sultanpur Lodhi is the town most related to the founder of Sikhism.

In 1475, Nanak’s elder sister Bibi Nanki was married to Jai Ram of Sultanpur Lodhi. In 1483 Nanak’s father sent him to Jai Ram’custody. Nanak was employed as the person In-charge of the civil supplies store. In 1488, Nanak married Bibi Sulkhani in Sultanpur Lodhi.

Nanak’s two sons were born in the city, where the guru spent 14 years. In 1497 Nanak disappeared in Kali Bein rivulet flowing through the city’s north end. He reappeared after three days with the teaching of “No one is Hindu, no one is Muslim,” which led to the birth of Sikhism.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has visited the town several times in recent weeks to supervise the arrangements to celebrate the event.

The Punjab government has also launched the “badge of logo” dedicated to the birth anniversary celebrations.

The logo was launched on November 2 by Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister Charanjit Singh Channi, in the presence of principal secretary tourism Vikas Pratap and director Malwinder Singh Jaggi.

Channi said people can affix the badge on their wardrobes. The badges would be distributed free of cost by the state government.

The minister added that the Punjab government had taken care to provide every facility to the people to ensure that they do not encounter any problems during their stay and paying obeisance at the Gurudwara Sahib at Sultanpur Lodhi.

The tourism department also released information booklets in English and Punjabi on the occasion.

The state government has also set up 39 help desks in various cities for the comfort of the people coming to visit Sultanpur Lodhi during the celebrations.

The help desks have been set up at Amritsar and Chandigarh international airports, the domestic airport at Adampur, railway stations at Chandigarh, Amritsar and Kapurthala besides bus stands at Jalandhar, Kartarpur, Amritsar and Kapurthala.

Source: indiatoday.in and mynation.com