Sultanpur Lodhi: In endless queues, a sea of humanity

“Jadon guru de ghar aaye hum ta kali kadi (When we have come to pay obeisance to our Guru, why make haste?),” said Jagtar Kaur, a senior citizen whose weak knees couldn’t deter her from visiting the gurdwara.

“We wanted to get an e-rickshaw but because of the huge rush of the people, they could not ply as there was no space at all so we decided to walk over a kilometre,” she added.

“It took four hours to cover a half-km stretch on foot and pay obeisance at the gurdwara, but we are happy that we could,” said Nazia, who had come with her husband and two small children from Nakodar.

“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and we have no issue if it takes hours to reach the gurdwara,” said Hardeep Singh, a youth from Amritsar.

“I am surprised to see the discipline of the people. Everyone was following instructions of government officials who were managing the queues. There was no untoward incident,” said Ram Parkash, who had come from the USA. He added that they had taken off their shoes on the roadside without worrying about them being stolen.
Even during langar, there was no chaos despite the rush.

Six million people have visited the shrine in the past two months including over four million in the past few days. The rush continued till evening.

Over a lakh take shelter in tent cities 

Over the past few days, more than one lakh devotees took shelter in the tent cities.

“The tent cities have a capacity of 35,000 persons at a time and till date, over a lakh people have already availed of this accommodation,” said Pankaj Sharma, project manager of tent cities put up by the Girdari Lal and Sons Company. “Due to the huge rush, we have even arranged extra benches and put them in our various lounges,” he added.

Sharma said they will dismantle the tent city only after the government nod since a large number of devotees will be visiting the town in the coming few days.