Kartarpur Corridor Opens On Guru Nanak Jayanti!

It is a piece of great news for all of us as Pakistan has agreed to open Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on Guru Nanak Jayanti. After a wait of 70 long years, Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Punjab Province will now be open for the Indians to visit. It has been said that the corridor will be open for the religious devotees on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary in November. Due to this initiative, people from different parts of India will be able to visit Kartarpur Sahib, where Guru Nanak Dev spent 17 years of his life and established the first Sikh center. The Gurudwara is located on the banks of Ravi River. It was built to commemorate the site where Guru Nanak got settled after completing his missionary work.

This historic Sikh Gurudwara is located 120 km from Lahore in the Narowal district. It has become so significant that the devotees from India were demanding pilgrimage facilities to this shrine from the past 70 years. The Gurudwara was originally known as Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and counted among the holiest shrines for the Sikh community. This shrine was closed for people coming across the Indian border after the partition in 1947. The corridor is constructed to connect Darbar Sahib (Pakistan) with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine (Gurdaspur district). Moreover, this movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims will be visa-free which means that they have to just obtain a permit to visit the shrine. The construction of the corridor from the Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is undertaken by Pakistan while the other part of the corridor, from Dera Baba Nanak up to the border, will be constructed by India.

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Guru Nanak Sahab, the first Guru of Sikhism, founded Kartarpur in 1504 CE and established a Sikh commune. After partition, the gurudwara was closed for the Indian Sikhs to visit and thus, the devotees were continuously demanding for allowing them to visit the shrine. For the people of Punjab, this is the biggest happiness on the auspicious occasion that they will be able to visit the shrine after a very long time. Indian devotees, especially Sikhs, were demanding a visa-free “khule darshan” at the Gurudwara and keeping the sentiments of the devotees, India at first proposed the Kartarpur Sahib corridor and after given a push from India, the foundation stones of the corridor were laid in November 2018 and it will be open for all the devotees by November, on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

As per the latest news, there will be no passport required for visiting Kartarpur Sahib only a valid ID is needed. Also, Sikh pilgrims do not have to register 10 days prior. There will be no fee charged from pilgrims on the inauguration day and on Guruji’s 550th birthday. The agreement has allowed 5,000 Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib every day.