Muslim painters decorate Parkash Purb celebration venue in Hry

Panipat, April 23 (IANS) A team of Muslim painters have been working dawn to dusk to prepare a painting of "Ik Onkar" (there is only one God) to commemorate a grand celebration here on Sunday to mark the 400th Parkash Purb of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Mohammad Gulfam , who has been leading the team of 26 Muslim artisans, al hailing from Delhi, said: "Art knows no religion. We work in temples, mosques, and gurdwaras everywhere. Sometimes we even do decorations in 'jagrans'. Our team has done a lot of decoration work at various religious events organised on the occasion of Gurpurab."

Along with fellow painters, he reached here on April 12 and have been working with reverence for 18-19 hours every day to decorate the venue.

His team members -- Sharif, Akram, Nawab Ali, Rizwan, Ayub, etc., had first prepared an iron structure at the main entrance, stage and backdrop. After that, a beautiful wood and thermocol art have been done on this structure to give a grand welcome to the devotees.

"Working on religious events that are preaching the message of communal harmony and brotherhood certainly gives him and his team an all different spiritual comfort and inner peace. We all should come together to show religious and communal harmony," added Gulfam.

Led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana is all set to welcome the people converging to mark the celebrations of Guru Tegh Bahadur, also known as 'Hind Di Chadar'.

A grand 'pandal' spread over 25 acres in Panipat has become the centre of attraction. Adequate parking arrangements have been made on 60 acres, an official statement said.

Khattar, his cabinet colleagues, leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda, Sant Samaj members and leaders of all other political parties in the state will participate in the event. Sikh musicians, 'ragi' and 'dhadi' from across the country will also be present.

Member of Parliament, Sanjay Bhatia, who is the convener of the programme management committee, said it is a matter of pride for the state as they would be witnessing the grand and historic celebration.

The Information, Public Relations and Languages Department has also made arrangements for the live telecast of the event.

Ahead of the event, a team of the state government visited Amritsar to bring holy water from the Golden Temple sarovar for the programme.

Haryana has a special connection with Guru Tegh Bahadur as there are more than 30 gurdwaras in the state named after him. The government has been taking decisions from time to time to preserve these historical gurdwaras.

Khattar recently announced the establishment of a 'peeth' in the name of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Kurukshetra University in Kurukshetra.

A comprehensive research work will be done on the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur so that his biography can be understood in a better manner and can be promoted in society, especially among the youth, said the statement.