Pak gurdwara reopens in Guru Nanak''s birthplace

Lahore, November 15

A pre-Partition gurdwara in Nankana Sahib — the birthplace of Guru Nanak — has been reopened in Pakistan's Punjab province.

"Gurdwara Kiyara Sahib which was closed over 75 years ago has finally been reopened for the yatris," Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesman Amer Hashmi said on Tuesday.

He said thousands of Sikhs gathered in Nankana Sahib to attend the festivities on the 548th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak visited Kiyara Sahib on Monday after it was reopened.

ETPB chairman Siddiqul Farooq also laid a foundation stone of a memorial of Bhai Mardana — a close associate of the first Sikh Guru — in Nankana Sahib.

Farooq also announced that Angetha Sahib at Darbar Sahib Kartarpur will be reopened on November 19 and a ceremony for the Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib is scheduled for January.

More than 15,000 people, mostly Sikh pilgrims, attended a Palki event held at Gurdwara Janamasthan Nankana Sahib, 80 kms from Lahore.

Indian Sikhs will also visit other gurudwaras in Punjab province before their departure for home on November 21.  — PTI