At Gurdwara Pataalpuri in Kiratpur Sahib, long queues for immersion of ashes

Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 21

It is at the historic Gurdwara Pataalpuri in Kiratpur Sahib, 60 km from here, that the entire severity of the Covid tragedy in Punjab becomes distinctly visible. As the Covid death toll continues to mount, the number of persons coming to immerse the ashes of their loved ones at Kiratpur Sahib has trebled in the past fortnight.

From an average of ashes of 200 persons being immersed in the Sutlej a month ago, the number has gone up to 600 now. In this week alone, ashes of 3,600 persons have been immersed, that of 685 on Friday itself.

Gurdwara manager Avtar Singh says by 9.30 am each day, ashes of almost 100 persons are already immersed and the rites performed. “People come from all over the region — Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, besides Punjab. But these days, the majority of those coming here for the rites are from Punjab villages,” he says.

Gurudwara officials say right from 4 am, people begin to queue up outside the registration office, near the Asth Ghat. Two queues extend right up to the entrance of the ghats. “Though we do not ask shardhalus the reason for death, we presume the Covid surge behind it,” says Surinder Singh, who issues the certificate at the gurudwara after the immersion.

At the Asth Ghat, people can be seen on either side of the bridge over the Sutlej, as well as standing on top of it, to immerse ashes. Sukhwinder Singh, a 63-year-old man from Mullanpur near Ludhiana, breaks down several times as he immerses the ashes of his wife of 40 years, Manjit Kaur. “She kept insisting it was a seasonal flu. By the time, we decided to take her to the hospital, it was a scramble to get a bed. When she did get admitted, it was too late,” he says, as he blames himself for not taking her to the hospital immediately.