170 Indian Sikh pilgrims reach Pakistan’s Lahore for Jorr Mela

Lahore, Jun 8 (PTI) Around 170 Indian Sikh pilgrims arrived here in Pakistan on Thursday to attend the festivities of the Jorr Mela, marking the death anniversary of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjun Dev Ji.

Evacuate Trust Property Board (ETPB) Additional Secretary Shrines Rana Shahid Saleem and Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Pardhan (President) Amir Singh greeted the pilgrims at the Wagah border.

“As many as 170 Indian Sikhs, including women, arrived here via Wagah Border on Thursday to take part in Jorr Mela to be held at Gurdwara Punja Sahib, Hasanabdal,” Amir Hashmi, spokesperson of ETPB, which looks after minority worship places in the country, told PTI.

He said the visiting pilgrims were offered langar (food) at Wagah and later transported to Hasanabdal city of the Punjab province for the main event.

Sardar Gaurbachan Singh, leading the visiting Yatrees (pilgrims), expressed his delight in being in the land of the founder of the Sikh religion, Baba Guru Nanak.

He said the Yatrees, during their 10-day stay, would also visit some other gurdwaras in the Punjab province. They will also visit the revered Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur town.

Sikhs from across the country and abroad gather at the third holiest site in the Sikh religion- Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasanabdal city, to mark Shaheedi Jorr Mela, the death anniversary of their guru, Guru Arjun Dev Ji.