Jamshedpur : Holy chants of ‘ Bole soh nihaal sat sri Akal…’ pervaded in the air at Armory Ground on Monday as performers of Gatka, a Sikh traditional form of martial art, demonstrated their fighting skills in the presence of a large number of devotees.
The three-day 350th birth anniversary celebrations, Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru kicked off at Gopal Maidan amidst enthusiasm. In the morning rituals were performed while in the afternoon Gatka was displayed at nearby Armory Ground.
As many as ten teams comprising 15 performers, hailing from different Gatka ‘akharas’, displayed their prowess in the art to the amazement of thousands of people gathered to witness the 350th Prakash Parv. Dressed in blue and wearing white turbans, the team stole the show. Bhai Gurinder Singh performed led the team that gave demonstration of Sikh martial arts.
Acclaimed sufi singer Wadali Brothers from Amritsar also performed on the inaugural event of the state-level Prakash Utsav.
The extravaganza organised by state arts, culture, sports and youth affairs department along with East Singhbhum district administration is expected to witness nearly 50,000 Sikh delegates, some of whom would be coming directly from Patna and nearly 90 acclaimed artists who would be exhibiting their talents during the programme culminating on January 11.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das along with state sports, arts, culture and youth affairs minister Amar Kumar Bauri were scheduled to officially inaugurate latter in the evening.
Guru Gobind Singh was the last of the ten Gurus, the one who transformed the Sikh faith. In 1699 he created the Khalsa (Pure), a community of the faithful who wore visible symbols of their faith and trained as warriors. Today the Khalsa comprises all practicing Sikhs.
Around 50,000 sq feet hangar (made from steels) have been constructed at the venue for the delegates along with a huge stage of nearly 2,400 sq feet. There are food courts for meals of delegates in nearly 24,000 sq ft area.
�Elaborate security arrangement would be made for the program which would witness Sikh delegates from across the state. We are arranging for drone inspection to keep aerial watch on the venue apart from monitoring through CCTVs apart from deployment of police and RAF forces at the venue,� said a senior administrative official.
There are provision of bio-toilets (which would convert into compost without requiring water) and giant LED screens at various points of the ground and outside to enable people who cannot get into the ground to watch the performance.
Around 30 city buses are being used for bringing delegates from their accommodation places to the venue.