Jammu,  This year's annual Amarnath Yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir will be of 15 days duration beginning on July 21 and ending on August 3.

This was stated by the officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the Yatra to the cave shrine situated at 3,880 metres above the sea level in J&K's Anantnag district.

The 'Pratham Puja' for the Yatra was held here on Friday

Chandigarh, Security agencies were put on alert in Punjab and vigil increased in and around the holy city of Amritsar, around 250 km from state capital Chandigarh, ahead of the 36th anniversary of Operation Blue Star on Saturday.

Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army at the Darbar Sahib complex between June 1 and 8, 1984.

CHANDIGARH,

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana K.P. Singh today extended warm greetings to the people of Punjab on the eve of sacred ‘Kabir Jayanti’ and called upon them to follow the teachings of great saint of ‘Bhakti Movement’ who preached the message of oneness of God, love, peace and universal brotherhood.

Amritsar-With “Ghallughara week” dedicated to 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar commencing on Monday, call it Covid-19 threat or avoiding the commotion in and around the Golden Temple complex the police are prepping well in advance.

In a wake of Covid lockdown, the Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh is yet to take a final call on the programme, yet his ‘parallel’ counterpart Bhai Dhyan Singh Mand has declared to conduct prayers at the Akal Takht and deliver ‘public address’. Another separatist organisation, Dal Khalsa and allied organisations too have announced to conduct genocide remembrance parade a day prior in Amritsar.

In the wake of prevailing unfavorable circumstances due to coronavirus pandemic, the annual pilgrimage to hilly Sikh shrine Gurdwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib has been suspended for an indefinite period. Notably, the pilgrimage to Sri Hemkunt Sahib usually begins in June every year and lasts till September

Islamabad, The Sikh community in Pakistan will celebrate the traditional spring festival of Baisakhi as well as the 321st anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa on Tuesday, the media reported.

Traditionally, people mark the two with much fanfare, but due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the country, celebrations will be low key, The Express Tribune said in a report on Monday.

Islamabad, Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Pakistan government has cancelled Baisakhi celebrations scheduled to begin on April 14 at the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Punjab province, in which 3,000 Sikhs from India and 2,000 from elsewhere were to participate.

New Delhi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday greeted the nation on the occasion of Ram Navami.

Taking to Twitter, the President said: "Hearty greetings to all the countrymen on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. The ideal life of Lord Rama gives us the message of virtue, tolerance, warm-heartedness and friendship.

Jammu, Around 400 pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine who could not return to their homes are safely sheltered in Jammu city.

Ramesh Kumar, CEO of the shrine board, told IANS, "We have no 'yatri' stranded anywhere either at the shrine or in Katra town.

Jammu, Hundreds of Vaishno Devi pilgrims from various parts of the country are stranded in Jammu due to the ongoing countrywide lockdown.

With money running out and nowhere to go, they have assembled in a temple complex in Jammu.

Shanti Devi from Bihar is among those pilgrims stranded.

Shimla, For the first time in recent decades, the doors of all prominent Hindu shrines in Himachal Pradesh were closed on Wednesday on the onset of the 10-day long Chaitra Navratri festival.

The temples are closed owing to imposition of statewide curfew to check coronavirus spread.

New Delhi- Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee today offered DSGMC Serai(Inn) at Historic Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla set up in banks of Yamuna in National Capital Delhi for setting up isolation ward and quarantine facilites for Corona Patients to strengthen infrastructural facilities to fight the deadly disease.

Srinagar, In the wake of coronavirus threat Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra has been suspended on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said.

"Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra has been closed from today. All interstate buses, incoming and outgoing from J&K banned from today," Kansal tweeted.

This comes a day after the government appealed the pilgrims to postpone their visit to the shrine in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Washington, Religious institutions across the US were following guidelines and many have either issued advisories or closed down for the time being amid the coronavirus pandemic which has killed 68 Americans and infected over 3,500 others.

At The Hindu Temple Society of North America, Flushing, New York there was a COVID-19 advisory in place for all visitors, The American Bazaar said in a report on Sunday.

Amritsar, Fearing apprehensions of travel ban on Indian devotees visiting Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan as a precaution against coronavirus, Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, on Friday asked the government of India not to impose the ban.

Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), Syed Mohd Islam, a Muslim man living in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district has decided to gift an ancient coin made of 'ashtadhatu' (eight metal alloy) for the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya.

The coin has an image of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman inscribed on it and its value is said to be several lakhs of rupees.

According to Islam, who lives in the Sitaram locality, he has found the coin while he was reconstructing his ancestral home in the village.

Amritsar, Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh, alias Sidhu Moose Wala, on Thursday appeared before the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, here and sought an apology for his song that created controversy and backlash ffrom the Sikhs for mentioning woman warrior Mai Bhago.

Moose Wala and his father appeared before Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh and sought an apology.

Earlier, the singer sought the apology in a letter to the Akal Takht head, where he said he was unaware that his act would hurt the Sikh sentiments.

New Delhi, The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Thursday organized relief camps for victims in the violence-hit areas of northeast Delhi.

The gurudwara here provided langar and medicines to the people, who lost their homes, many their lives as rioters ran amok for four days.

New Delhi, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday that devotees travelling to Kartarpur in Pakistan to pay obeisance at the Darbar Sahib gurdwara there were screened for novel coronavirus on the India-Pakistan border.

"Update on#Novelcoronavirus: Glimpses of screening of people at Kartarpur for symptoms of COVID-19," the ministry tweeted, tagging pictures of screening centres established for the purpose.

New Delhi, Congress leader and self-proclaimed 'Shiv bhakt' Rahul Gandhi on Friday extended greetings to the nation on the occasion of Mahashivaratri.

"Hearty greetings to all the countrymen on the auspicious occasion of Mahashivaratri," Rahul Gandhi tweeted and also attached a picture of revered Mount Kailash with it.

Varanasi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's Varanasi visit on Sunday is not only about temple and religion, as the Congress would like everyone to believe. The visit has a definite Dalit outreach and Priyanka's participation in the Guru Ravidas birth anniversary celebration at Seer Govardhanpur is a clear indication of it.

Guru Ravidas, a Dalit seer, poet-saint, social reformer and a spiritual figure who was a part of the Bhakti movement in the 15th and 16th century, is held in high esteem by the Dalit communities.

Islamabad, Pakistan's National Assembly was informed that a proposal for allowing passport-free entry for Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur was under consideration, in order to attract more visitors, it was reported on Saturday.

Chandigarh, 'Kirat Karo', 'Naam Japo' and 'Vand Chhako' is the theme of Punjab's tableau at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26, an official said on Wednesday.

"The tableau of the state is dedicated to the ideology of Guru Nanak Dev to mark the year-long celebrations of the 550th Prakash Purb of the founder of Sikhism', an official spokesperson said here.

Mumbai, Amid speculation that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has withdrawn his remark on the birthplace of the Shirdi saint Saibaba, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said, here on Monday, the controversy was resolved amicably.

New Delhi, As many as 555 Sikh devotees from the national capital will visit Pakistan via Wagah border in April to celebrate Baisakhi at the historic Gurduwara Panja Sahib, Delhi Sikh Gurduwara Management Committee (DSGMC) President Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Sunday.

The Sikh devotees will leave from Delhi on April 11 and will return on April 21. The DSGMC has asked devotees interested in undertaking the pilgrimage to deposit their passports with the committee by February 15.

San Francisco, A newly inaugurated gurdwara in California was vandalized with white nationalist graffiti, which included the phrase "White Power" and depicted a swastika on a concrete slab at the front entrance, a media report said

The Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara Sahib, located in Orangevale, about an hour from San Francisco, was inaugurated on January 12, the San-Ramon based Indica news portal said in a report on Wednesday.

Chandigarh- Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitute a national-level committee to oversee the year-long 400th 'Prakash Purb' (birth anniversary) celebrations of ninth Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur, on the lines of the 550th celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder pointed out the state planned to celebrate the historic occasion in a befitting manner with a series of programmes throughout the year, beginning in April.

New Delhi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday led a host of personalities in tweeting their tributes to Guru Gobind Singh on his 'Prakash Utsav' or birth anniversary.

#GuruGobindSingh trended with 17.6K tweets.

The 10th Sikh master was born in 1666 in Patna Sahib in Bihar. A spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher, Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary falls in either December or January.

Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), The management of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST), Shirdi received Rs 287 crore in donations this year, a top official said here on Tuesday.

"Yes, the donation in various forms is around Rs 287 crores from January 1 to December 31 so far. It has surpassed last year's calendar collection of Rs 285 crores," SSST Chief Executive Officer Deepak Muglikar told IANS.

While around Rs 217 crore has come in the form of cash offerings and at collection counters, Rs 70 crore -- nearly 33 per cent -- has come from non-cash routes like cheques, demand drafts, money-orders, credit/debit cards, online transfers, foreign currencies, etc., he said.

New Delhi, A sword, stamp and artefacts related to 9th Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur will be preserved by the Gurudwara Rakab Ganj in New Delhi, a statement said here on Tuesday.

The conservation of the sword which was used by Guru Tegh Bahadur in the battle of Kartarpur in 1635 will be preserved by an archaeologist who would be hired soon.

Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, was born in the village of Talwandi. Also called Rai Bhoe-ki Talwandi, the village now known as Nankana Sahib, is near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. He was born, according to many ancient Sikh records, in the early morning of the third day of the light half of the month of Baisakh (April - May) in the year 1469, which is believed to be Saturday15 April1469; while other chronicles state the date of birth as October 20 1469. The Sikhs now celebrate this auspicious event each year on the Pooranmashi (full moon day) in the lunar month of Katak (October-November), which falls on different dates every year.

Kapurthala (Punjab) To mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced his government's decision to install a Chair in the name of the first Sikh Guru in 11 universities, including one in Iran.

The Chief Minister made the announcement at a function held at the Punjab Technical University here in the presence of representatives from all the 11 universities, of which seven are in Punjab.

New Delhi, Amid conflicting messages emanating from Pakistan ahead of the Kartarpur inauguration, India on Thursday said that pilgrims going from India would have to carry their passports to use the cross-border corridor to reach the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, addressing a briefing here, said that despite the corridor slated to be inaugurated on Saturday "a sense of confusion continues", in the wake of the latest tweet by Pakistan military's media wing.

New Delhi, Two days ahead of the highly-anticipated inauguration of the cross-border Kartarpur Corridor, India on Wednesday voiced concerns over the presence of three Sikh separatist leaders, including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, in an official promotional video of the corridor released by Pakistan and has raised the matter with Islamabad.

Amritsar, A total 1,303 Indian Sikh pilgrims on Tuesday left for Pakistan via Attari border to participate in celebrations to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

The pilgrimage, organised by the Shriomani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the body that manages Sikh shrines in India, will conclude on November 14.

The devotees will visit Sikh shrines, including Nankana Sahib -- the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev in Punjab province -- Panja Sahib in Hasanabdal city and Kartarpur Sahib