Nagar kirtan marks 10th Guru’s birth anniv

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 2

The Sikh community today took out a day-long colourful nagar kirtan (religious procession) from Chand Nagar Gurdwara ahead of Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary (prakash utsav) on January 5.

Celebrating the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru, the entire Sikh community of the Jammu region started the procession from Bibi Chand Kour Gurudwara, Chand Nagar, this morning.

The procession passed through Samadian Road and went through Vinayak Chowk, Gumat crossing, Green Belt area, Gandhi Nagar Hospital Road, Shivaji Chowk, Khalsa Chowk and concluded at Gurdwara Sri Singh Sabha, Nanak Nagar, Jammu. The procession started at 10 am and concluded at 5pm.

The District Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Jammu, which had organised the nagar kirtan, managed the procession well and various stalls of food and refreshments were also arranged by different business and social organisations on the route.

More than 10,000 devotees took part in the procession. A ‘palki sahib’ was leading the procession in which Sri Guru Granth Sahib (the holy scripture of Sikhs) was carried on a beautifully decorated vehicle along with ‘nishaan sahibs’ (religious flags).

The ‘panj pyaras’ (five beloved ones) in their traditional attire were the cynosure of attraction all along the procession. The other major attraction of the procession was the display of Gatka, a Sikh martial art, and other breathtaking sword exercises all along the procession.

Besides this, many types of presentations were held in which camel and horse riders were decorated in traditional Khalsa uniforms.