Amritsar/Bhubaneswar/Gaya/Rishikesh: Offerings at gurudwaras and temples and holy dips in rivers and sarovars marked Guru Nanak Jayanti, the birth anniversary of first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev, and ‘Kartik Purnima’, full moon day of the lunar fortnight of the Hindu month of Kartik across India on Thursday. Sikhs celebrated the 540th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikh religion, with religious fervour in Amritsar. Thousands of devotees thronged the Golden temple in Amritsar early this morning to pay obeisance at the Sikhs' holiest shrine. "Devotees are coming in large numbers to offer prayers. Everybody is excited and they are thronging the temple in large numbers," said Avtar Singh Makkar, President, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee.

          Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion, was born in November 1469 at Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib. The anniversaries of Sikh Gurus are known as Gurpurabs (festivals), and celebrated by Sikhs with devotion. Gurpurabs mark the culmination of Prabhat Pheris, the early morning procession that starts from the gurdwaras and then go round localities singing shabads (hymns). The celebrations also include the three-day Akhand path, during which the Guru Granth Sahib is read continuously, from beginning to end without a break. On the day of the festival, the Granth Sahib is also carried in a procession on a float, decorated with flowers, throughout a village or city.

          In Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, the Triveni Ghat was illuminated on Wednesday evening when thousands of lamps were lit by a large number of people to mark a special Deep Dan mahotsav held on the occasion of Vaikunth Chaturdashi. This year most of the lamps were made of flour, which dissolve in water and not pollute it. According to Hindu mythology, lit Diyas (lamps) made Lord Vishnu to come out of his deep slumber on Vaikuntha Chaturdashi. The occasion was organized on the eve of Kartik Purnima, when Dev Deepawali is celebrated as per Hindu almanac. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus converge on the banks of River Ganges on this occasion and mark the auspicious day by lighting earthen lamps and floating them in the holy river.

          Deep Dan mahotsav on Wednesday was used as an occasion to spread awareness about River Ganga and the need to protect it from pollution. "Our message to the masses was to light lamps made of flour, which after being burnt will not pollute the river. Soon after getting into the river, it gets dissolved in the water and will also become food for millions of fish in the river. This way we can avoid the river from getting polluted. I therefore request people who visit the place to make similar efforts to make their river Goddess free from pollutants," said Rajendra Sethi, the Organiser of Gangajal Swachcha Samiti (Clean Ganga Water Committee). "Today this Deep Daan programme has been organised by the Gangajal Swatchha Samiti (Clean Ganga group) occasion of Vaikuntha Chaturdashi. The large number of crowd gathered here shows the belief of people in River Ganga and this will arouse a feeling among them to keep their river clean and fresh," said Kavita Saha, President of Women Group in Rishikesh. People participated with full enthusiasm and also attended a cultural progammes organized here on this occasion. "This is a great step to make the young generation aware to keep the River Ganga clean. It is to inform the tourists from all over the country and across the world about the need to keep Ganga pollution free. More such attempts should be made in future to keep this holy river clean," said Pramod Kumar, a devotee from Punjab. The devotees also performed a special Ganga Aarti in the evening and for the onlookers, the tourists in particular, it was a dazzling sight.   
-Nov 13, 2008