Baisakhi, the festival of harvest was Thursday celebrated with religious fervor by valley’s Sikh community across the state.The festival in the Valley also marks the reopening of Mughal gardens on the bank of Dal Lake.However, the gardens were opened unofficially for the past one month for tourists.Meanwhile, the members of Sikh community, including women and children in colourful dresses, visited the Gurdwaras in the valley, including summer capital Srinagar, to join special congregational prayers there.However, unlike the previous years, the festival was celebrated in a simple manner announced by the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee chairman, Jagmohan Singh Raina.“Celebrating the festival in a simple manner is aimed to express solidarity with the eight civilians who were killed on Sunday,” the APSCC chairman had said.
Raina had said the festival brings about happiness and joy among the people, adding that such festive occasion provide a chance to the people of different communities to come close to each other, while exchanging pleasantries. Following the announcement made by the APSCC chairman, the Mughal gardens here witnessed a declined rush as compared to the previous years.Meanwhile, the main congregation was held at Gurdwara Chetipadshahi in the downtown on the foot hill of Kohi-e-Maran, where the shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom and the Hindu temple are located.Sikh devotees from different parts of the city visited Gurdwara, where free langar was set up. They also joined the Shabad Kirten. (KNS)