Over 500 pilgrims enter Pakistan for Sikh celebrations

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI, India (AA) - A group of over 500 Sikh pilgrims crossed from India to Pakistan on Tuesday to take part in the celebrations of the 550th birth anniversary of their religion's founder, Baba Guru Nanak, from his birthplace in Nankana Sahib on Aug. 1.

The month-long religious celebrations will begin from Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Aug. 1 and end across the border in Sultanpur Lodhi, 141 kilometers (87 miles) east, on Aug. 30.

Sikh pilgrims were granted visas by Pakistan on Monday to participate in the event.

The Pakistani embassy granted 504 visas to the devotees who crossed the Attari-Wagah border today to take part in the tradition of 'Nagar Kirtan', involving the singing of religious hymns.

"We are happy with all the arrangements," said Rajinder Singh Mehta, a member of the managing body of Sikh place of worship in India, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

In November last year, Islamabad and New Delhi agreed to open the Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims ahead of the event.