Thousands converge at shrine for Hola Mohalla

Tens of thousands of people from across Punjab and other parts of India converged at the Sikh holy shrine of Takht Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib town Thursday to be part of the three-day Hola Mohalla festival which coincides with Holi, the Hindu festival of colours.

As people offered prayers and were later part of the Hola Mohalla celebrations at the shrine, it was a virtual sea of humanity.

Anandpur Sahib, located about 85 km from Chandigarh, is the second most important shrine of Sikh religion. It was here in 1699 that the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, baptised five men and founded the Khalsa Panth, which is the modern day Sikh religion.

Elsewhere in Punjab, the festival of Holi was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm.

Youngsters and families could be seen applying colours to each other across the state.

In Chandigarh, heavy police deployment could be seen at various places even as youth in cars and jeeps made rounds of various parts.

In neighbouring Haryana also, Holi was celebrated in most parts, barring some areas of Hisar district where the Jat agitation for seeking reservation in government jobs for the community is on.