President offers prayers at Golden Temple

AMRITSAR - President Pratibha Patil Wednesday arrived in this Sikh holy city and offered prayers at ‘Harmandar Sahib’, popularly known as the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines in the world.

Dressed in an ivory-coloured saree with a deep red border and her head covered, the president went around the ‘parkarma’ of the Golden Temple before entering the sanctum sanctorum to offer prayers.

Accompanied by her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and other family members, the president bowed before the Sikh holy book ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ inside the shrine.

Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, Bathinda MP and Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat Badal and other dignitaries accompanied the president during her maiden visit to the Sikh shrine.

Tight security arrangements were made for the president’s visit here. Security personnel swarmed every inch of the area where the president was to go. Security men in plainclothes accompanied her and other VIPs inside the Golden Temple complex.

Volunteers of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) formed a human chain around the ‘parkarma’ and the sanctum sanctorum as the president arrived at the shrine.

The president was given a ’siropa’ (religious symbol) by the ‘granthis’ (priests) of the temple inside the shrine.

The president came here to attend a function of the ‘Nanhi Chhaan’ (Tender Shadow) campaign to save the girl child and plant more trees.