Punjab: Pakistan has thrown open the historic 19th-century old Gurdwara Chowa Sahib in Punjab province for pilgrims, seventy-two years after Partition.
Gurdwara Chowa Sahib located at the northern edge of the Rohtas Fort near Punjab’s Jhelum City was opened for public on Friday. This comes in the run-up to the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November. Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh had built the Gurdwara and a Sarovar in 1834 and names it Gurdwara Chowa Sahib.
The Gurdwara Chowa Sahib, a UNESCO world heritage site, was reopened in a colourful ceremony in the presence of several high officials and community members.
The ceremony began with an ‘ardaas’ (prayer) and ‘kirtans’ (devotional songs) performed by Sikh community members.
” A multi-million project will be initiated by the federal government for restoration of the gurdwara situated in Rohtas Fort near Jhelum,” Express Tribune quoted Evacuee Trust Property Board ( ETBP) Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal as saying.
Recently Pakistan also opened the centuries-old Shawala Teja Singh temple in the eastern city of Sialkot for “worship”. The temple was also reopened after 72 years of Partition on the demand of the local Hindu community.
