A Hindu jatha (group of pilgrims) comprising 24 members will leave Amritsar for the Katas Raj temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province Wednesday afternoon, official said.
The group, which is being led-by Sunil Kumar Khanna, a leader of Pratinidhi Sabha Punjab, will cross over to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border.
“We are going to Katas Raj temple especially to celebrate Mahashivratri,” said Hari Om Verma, one of the pilgrims.
The pilgrims had arrived in Amritsar on Tuesday and stayed at the Durgiana Temple here. The jatha will stay in Pakistan for seven days. The Pakistan high commission had issued visas to 25 Indian pilgrims to visit Katas Raj temple, also known as Qila Katas or complex of Katas temples, in Chakwal district of Punjab from December 19 to 25. One woman opted out of the pilgrimage due to poor health.
Under the Pakistan-India protocol on visits to religious shrines of 1974, a large number of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe religious festivals every year.
The Katas Raj Temple also known as Qila Katas is a complex of several temples connected to one another by walkways. The pilgrims members said besides paying obeisance at the Katas Raj, and taking part in the religious festivities there, they will also visit other Hindu temples in the vicinity.
Last November, thousands of Sikhs had travelled to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province through the Kartarpur Corridor which was opened to facilitate the pilgrimage to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev
{{/usCountry}}Last November, thousands of Sikhs had travelled to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province through the Kartarpur Corridor which was opened to facilitate the pilgrimage to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev
{{/usCountry}}The Kartarpur Corridor connects Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib -- also called Kartarpur Sahib -- the last resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, in Narowal district in Pakistan.