Batala gears up for ‘Babe da Viah’ festivities

The steel town of Batala was all decked up to receive the ‘barat’, which arrived from Sultanpur Lodhi, today to celebrate the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev ji’s 538th wedding anniversary celebrations which also go by the euphemism of ‘Babe da Viah’.

The procession was received at Adowali village, near Batala, by Deputy Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh, Batala MLA Amasher Singh Sherry Kalsi and his Sri Hargobindpur counterpart Amarpal Singh.

The ‘baratis’ will be staying at Gurdwara Sri Satkartarian Sahib for the night. Many of them will be going to the houses of their relatives and friends, as has been the case in the previous years. More than one lakh devotees are expected to attend the festivities tomorrow.

For the last two days, senior administration and police officials were engaged in intense deliberations to ensure no untoward incident happens.

Batala MLA Sherry Kalsi has instructed officials to ensure that all the roads on which the ‘barat’ will be travelling are roadworthy and devotees face no problems at all. He also presided over a meeting of Municipal Committee (MC) officials where he made it clear that cleanliness of the city should be number one on their agenda.

The DC is personally monitoring the situation.

SSP Suhal Qasim Mir said 10 DSP and four SP-rank officers had been deployed to make sure that the law and order situation remains under control. “All traffic bottlenecks have been cleared and pilgrims will not have to waste time in traffic jams,” he said.

An elaborate security paraphernalia has been in place from Gurdwara Dera sahib, from where the ‘barat’ will start tomorrow morning and Gurdwara Kand Sahib, where the festivities will culminate.

Hundreds of cops have been requisitioned from the neighbouring police districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar (Rural) and Pathankot.

In previous years, the police were flooded with reports of pick-pockets having made the city their temporary base. “We do not want anyone to destroy the sanctity of the occasion. A majority of pick-pockets, who were keenly waiting for the day keeping in view the ‘massive returns’ it offered, were quietly picked up by the cops,” said SSP Qasim Mir.

Historians say Guru Nanak Dev was married to Sulakhni, daughter of Mul Chand, in 1487 in this town. The ceremonies were a grand affair as Sulakhni was the daughter of a revenue official. Legend has it that Guru Nanak Dev refused to follow the marriage rituals dictated by Brahmins of that era. He and Sulakhni took four of the prescribed seven rounds around the sacred fire.

MLA Sherry Kalsi said, “Facilities at the Civil Hospital have been upgraded to deal with any eventuality. CCTVs have been installed at all strategic places in the city.”