Thousands converge at shrine for Hola Mohalla
March 8th, 2012 - 7:05 pm ICT by IANSChandigarh, March 8 (IANS) Tens of thousands of people from across Punjab and other parts of India converged at the Sikh holy shrine of Takht Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib town Thursday to be part of the three-day Hola Mohalla festival which coincides with Holi, the Hindu festival of colours.
As people offered prayers and were later part of the Hola Mohalla celebrations at the shrine, it was a virtual sea of humanity.
Anandpur Sahib, located about 85 km from Chandigarh, is the second most important shrine of Sikh religion. It was here in 1699 that the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, baptised five men and founded the Khalsa Panth, which is the modern day Sikh religion.
Elsewhere in Punjab, the festival of Holi was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm.
Youngsters and families could be seen applying colours to each other across the state.
In Chandigarh, heavy police deployment could be seen at various places even as youth in cars and jeeps made rounds of various parts.
In neighbouring Haryana also, Holi was celebrated in most parts, barring some areas of Hisar district where the Jat agitation for seeking reservation in government jobs for the community is on.
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- 'Virasat-e-Khalsa' opened at Anandpur Sahib - Nov 25, 2011
- Sikhism's spiritual high seat: Journeying through Anandpur Sahib (With Image) - Dec 26, 2010
- Sikh festival Holla Mohalla starts at Anandpur Sahib - Feb 27, 2010
- Badal to inaugurate Khalsa centre - Nov 04, 2011
- Hit by delays, Sikh heritage project gets another deadline - Dec 06, 2010
- Sikhs to hold mega-blood donation camp in Punjab - Feb 16, 2009
- PM likely to inaugurate Sikh monument next month - Oct 08, 2011
- Luxury train on Sikh pilgrimage across India sold out - Dec 26, 2010
- 25,000 people may donate blood during Hola Mohalla celebrations - Feb 27, 2009
- When PM's no-show becomes an election issue (Punjab Newsletter) - Nov 05, 2011
- PM to inaugurate Sikh heritage site - Oct 22, 2011
- Australian Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi in Sydney - Apr 17, 2011
- Punjab: where politics and religion mix well (Punjab Newsletter) - Dec 31, 2011
- PM cancels Punjab trip, SGPC and Akalis upset - Nov 03, 2011
Tags: agitation, anandpur sahib, baptised, celebrations, festival of colours, five men, government jobs, guru gobind singh, guru guru, haryana, hindu festival, holi, holy shrine, jeeps, khalsa panth, mohalla, punjab, tenth sikh guru, virtual sea, youngsters