Amritsar Gets Tourism Police

Amritsar seeks to safeguard the interests of tourists who fall victim to crooks and cons. AMRITSAR – One of the most popular tourist cities in Punjab his hoping a 30-person special police squad will help protect its 100,000 daily visitors. Tourists have often fallen victims to cheats and touts and ended up losing their belongings and valuables, said Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as he announced the formation of the Amritsar Tourism Police by the city’s district police department.

The tourism police will be stationed around-the-clock at Darbar Sahib, the airport, the railway station, bus stands and the Attari border.

"Special training has been imparted to these officers in tourism management,” said Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Amritsar’s senior superintendent of police, who will personally supervise the 30-member squad led by Inspector Ramnish Kumar.

“The main objective of the Amritsar Tourism Police will be to prevent harassment of tourists by touts, help in getting transport and lodging at appropriate rates and help avoid hassles at the railway station, airport, bus terminals and other important tourist locations."

At a joint news conference Thursday, the Punjab chief minister lauded the effort of the local police in protecting the city’s burgeoning tourist population.

"Amritsar is emerging as a sikh tourism hub, one of the most visited places in the world with about one lakh (100,000) visitors who come here every day,” Parkash Singh said. “They include a large number of devotees from other sates in India as well as from the foreign countries.”

It is not known whether tourists in need will be able to recognize a tourism-police officer from a regular officer.

Hi-tech Sikh museum set to come up at Nanded.

Perhaps it is time for Sikh museums to spring up in many places, and the development is in keeping with the fervour of religiosity inspired largely by the Diaspora efforts and the celebrations of the Guru'ta Gaddi Diwas. Now it seems a state-of-the-art Sikh museum is set to come up at Nanded at a cost of Rs 20 crore as part of tercentenary celebrations of Gurta Gaddi Diwas.

The development has been confirmed by Nanded's Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Gurdwara Board chairman Dr P.S. Pasricha who said latest technologies will be used in the new museum.

"Visitors will be imparted information about Sikh religion in either of four languages - Punjabi, English, Hindi and Marathi. The touch screen systems, latest gadgets, and many attractions will punctuate the over 30,000 square feet area. The museum will employ graphics and animation strategies and technology shall be put to use to pass on the message of Sikh gurus to youth, particularly those residing abroad, to save them from ever-increasing western culture influence," Pasricha, the former Maharashtra police chief, said.

The first phase of this museum-cum-art gallery would be made operational in 13,000 square feet area within next two months, while the entire project would be completed by October-end. Pasricha said approximately 11 acres of land surrounding the complex was being developed with landscaping and fountains. Fountain shows are being planned for the night to describe Sikh religion.

Pasricha also said Godavari riverfront is being developed and construction of 100-feet roads on both sides of the river was undertaken by the board. Godavari will form an aquaduct and will provide a feeling of divinity and spirituality to all those who will enjoy the fascinating scenery of the original Godavari. Efforts were on to tap religious tourism with construction of special NRI Yatri Niwas with luxurious rooms and suites of international standards.

Pasricha is also leading efforts to ensure that the new airport at Nanded, likely to operational from May 1, 2008, be named after Guru Gobind Singh.

Tight security in Pakistan for Indian Sikh jatha

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) has made unprecedented security arrangements for Sikh devotees visiting Pakistan on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 24. According to sources, the heightened security is in the wake of emergency declared in Pakistan and apprehensions that terrorists from North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan may infiltrate Lahore during the visit of devotees from around the world.

Various security agencies like security branch, crime investigation agency and ISI are expected to monitor movements of the Sikh jatha. "We believe they will permanently station their spies in gurdwaras as long as the Sikh jatha stays in Pakistan," says sources. Those Sikh who have been illegally staying in Pakistan’s gurdwaras will also be watched and may be asked to leave the country, say sources.

Meanwhile, PSGPC will also bring an inter-faith delegation to India to strengthen religious bonds between the two nations. "Pakistan government has made unprecedented security arrangements for the arrival of some 20,000 Sikhs from around the world, including 3,000 from NWFP and 7,000 from Sindh," informs Bishan Singh, president PSGPC on the phone from Lahore on Saturday.

Informing that he will lead the inter-faith delegation to India in December to promote peace, Singh adds, "The delegation will include religious representatives of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians from Pakistan and they will hold meetings with leaders of different faiths in India."

Stating that adequate security arrangements were in place, Sadiq Khurram, the newly-appointed organizing secretary of Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board, a parent body of PSGPC, adds, "We expect all religious festivities to pass off peacefully."

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar says that the Sikh jatha, led by former SGPC president Kabal Singh Theenda, will leave for Lahore on a special Sikh pilgrim train from Attari international railway station on November 21. The jatha was earlier scheduled to leave on November 19, but following a change in programme by PSGPC, it was postponed by two days.

Punjabi wedding hot on India and Punjab tourism

India's only planned city, Chandigarh, has been projected as an ideal destination to get married at the ongoing World Travel Mart (WTM) in London to cash in on the craze for the big, fat Punjabi wedding among non-resident Indians (NRIs) and foreigners.

"Chandigarh tourism has decided to adopt more novel and innovative measures like wedding tourism to promote the city as the tourism hub of north India," the city's Home and Tourism Secretary Krishna Mohan, who is visiting the WTM, said Wednesday.

He said wedding ceremonies could be facilitated in collaboration with hotels and resorts in and around the city.

"Indian weddings are occasions to behold and Chandigarh is particularly known for its glamorous and graceful wedding ceremonies. European visitors in particular relish such occasions and Chandigarh tourism is in the process of facilitating more foreign visitors for these ceremonies," the home secretary said.

Mohan said that Chandigarh was not only a tourist attraction for its architectural beauty but also for medical and sports tourism. The city had excellent facilities for golf, tennis, cricket and other sports.
Chandigarh has recently been placed on the tentative list of World heritage sites by UNESCO, becoming the first Indian city to make it to the list.

For any enquiry for Punjabi Theme wedding, ask at http://www.sikhtourism.com/enquiry.htm

Why do Sikhs celebrate Diwali ?

The festival of Divali is an important event for most of the South Asian community. For Hindus it represents the day when the mythological god King Rama came back to his capital after 12 years of exile. Rama’s subjects were so happy to see him that they lit divas (lamps) and set of firecrackers in honour of the event. Even today Hindus celebrate this event with great happiness and joy. On this day they worship fire and the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

Why do Sikhs celebrate Divali? When we look into most history books, we can gather that the reason that Divali is celebrated is as follows :

After the torture and death of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, by the order of Jahangir (the emperor of India at the time), the Mogul administration started to become uneasy due to the sudden popularity of Sikhism. Chandu, an advisor of Jahangir, was the one who had suggested the torture of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji. He suddenly felt threatened at the popularity of the Sikhs and decided to advise the king to get rid of the next Guru of the Sikhs as well. Jahangir decided that this was a good idea and summoned Guru Hargobind Ji to his court where he had Guru Ji imprisoned in Gwalior fort where 52 innocent Hindu Princes were imprisoned as well. During imprisonment, the Guru noticed that all the princes were depressed and forlorn with their treatment in the jail and were in very unhealthy conditions. The Guru helped the princes regain their health and taught them spiritually. When the Guru was granted freedom, he refused to leave until he had gained the release of the 52 Hindu kings too. The emperor then said that all those princes that could hold on the Guru’s clothes would be liberated as well. Guru Ji had a special cloak made which had 52 strings sewed on it and each prince held on to a string. Thus all prisoners were freed. It was in this respect that Guru Hargobind became known as “Bandi Chor” or the Releaser of Prisoners. When Guru Ji reached Amritsar, it was Divali day and Sikhs celebrated the homecoming of the Guru by lighting diyas. To this day Sikhs celebrate Divali and in honour of Guru Hargobind Ji and his return.

So, it’s really quite simple. Sikhs do have their own Diwali … right? Maybe not.