Patna witnessed a festival of sorts on Wednesday 4th January 2017 with around a 100,000 of Sikh devotees participating in the 15-km long ‘Nagar Kirtan’ to celebrate the 350th 'Parkash Purab' or birth anniversary of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji. While one end of the ‘keertan’ was at Kargil Chowk, the other end had reached Patna Science College, thus covering a distance of more than 3km.
The mega procession included 200 horses, 12 camels and four elephants. The elephants and horses had come from Punjab and Delhi, among other places. A sight of the grand procession with vivid colours and heightened energy left most Patnaites spellbound as people stood along the roads and on high-rise buildings on the route to catch a glimpse of it.
The ‘nagar keertan’, which started from Gandhi Maidan at 10am, reached Takhat Sri Harmandir Saheb in Patna City at 9pm via Ashok Rajpath, Mahendru, Gai Ghat and Patna City Chowk. Most of the devotees walked barefoot.
‘Shabads’ written by Guru Gobind Singh like ‘Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Hai, Shubh Karman Te Kabhu Na Daro (My body is transient. I should not be scared of fighting for the cause of righteousness) rent the air. Devotees divided themselves in various jatthas (groups) and each one kept reciting ‘gurbani’ throughout the long route. Several band teams of the city too enthralled devotees by reciting ‘gurbani’.
The procession was led by two groups of ‘Panj Pyaras’ attired in traditional dress of Sikh warriors followed by a drum band of 115 girls from SGGS Girls School, Patna City, and that of 13 girls from Guru Gobind School Middle School, also from Patna City. Apart from school and local bands, bands from Sikh Regiment Centre and Punjab Regiment Centre also participated in the procession.
This film shows the final few minutes of this 14 Hour long 'Nagar Keertan'. The Panj Pyaray are seen entering the Historical Darshan Diori or Grand Gateway of the Takhat Sahib situated on the Harimandir Ki Gali. This gateway symbolises the entrance that the first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji entered the house of Sala Rai Jori.
The timings of the arrival of Guru Ji at the Takhat coincided with the 350th 'Parkash Purb' actual day of the mega event it self being 5th Jan 2017.
21 сен 2024
