When the Kartarpur corridor was opened back in 2019 it was a dream come true for all the devotees especially for Sikhs in India and abroad. At that time I was coincidently in Punjab and was super excited to visit the holy place. The plan didn't materialize as we were not carrying our passports with us. With a heavy heart we had to let go the opportunity but i was determined to visit the next time i am in Punjab. Untill the corridor was open devotees had to make peace by doing darshan by viewing the holy place through binoculars from another Sikh temple on the Indian side Shri Dera Baba Nanak.
Come December,21 a plan was made to travel to Punjab by road before the WFH finally ends and this time we promptly applied for the visit to Shree Kartarpur Sahib. After applying we immediately left for Punjab and little did i know as part of the verification the police is supposed to meet you in person and verify your credentials. I got a call from the police station and they were adamant that without meeting us they would not approve the visit. After a lot of discussion finally they agreed to complete the verification once we provided additional document and letter from out apartment association. A fellow resident helped me to get through that phase. For my parents verification also we faced issues where the police station was unaware of any such application and asked us to visit numerous offices to get clarity about the status of our application. With all this drama we had finally lost hope and were sure that the the approval would never come.
Come 22nd Dec,21 in the evening we received the SMS that the approval is granted for all 4 of us . We were relieved and excited that our prayers have been answered. We quickly got all our papers in order and were all set for the Pilgrimage.
For the sake of the of whole forum let me brief the importance of Shree Kartarpur Sahib.
The gurdwara was built to commemorate the site where Guru Nanak dev ji, the founder of Sikhism, settled after his missionary work and did farming. Guru Nanak dev ji founded the Kartarpur town by Ravi River in 1504, plowing the fields and setting up a community kitchen, or Langar. He assembled a Sikh commune there, and lived for 18 years until his death on 22 September 1539. The gurdwara is built where Guru Nanak dev ji is said to have died. It is therefore the second holiest site of the Sikh religion. After Guru Nanak ji died, there was a dispute between the local Hindus and Muslims. Muslims, who saw him as their pir, wanted to bury him while Hindus, who claimed Nanak as their guru, wanted to cremate his body. But the legend follows that Guru Nanak's body was turned into flowers, which were then divided between the two communities. So there is a Mazar and separate place nearby where the hindus did the cremation. There is an old well from where guruji used the water to till the lands. Process to apply and its time lines:-
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1.First you have to apply on the below link with all your particulars and photos
https://prakashpurb550.mha.gov.in/kpr/
2.Post registration you get an SMS and an application number is generated to download expressing interest to visit.
3.You can either apply individually or apply as a group. We did the registration individually.
4. You get a call from the local police station to complete the verification where usually they will either come to your home to verify the credentials or they may call you to the police station. This request is a high priority request and you may notice a sense of urgency from the police authorities.
5.Once the verification is complete a few days before your visit you will get an SMS confirming your travel and to request to download the ETA Form(
Electronic Travel Authorization).
For reference we applied on 27th Nov,21 and the confirmation SMS was received on 22nd Dec,21.Travel date was 26th Dec,21 Documents required as of 27th Dec,21
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1.Valid Passport
2.International Vaccination Certificate proving both doses for COVID have been administered.
3.RTPCR test not older than 72 hours from the date of travel.
4.20 US Dollars per person as a fees(There are Forex counters on both Indian and Pakistani side but the ones on the Pakistani side will cost you more. For our group of 4 devotees the Pakistan State bank charged 7680 INR for 80 US dollars . In India it could have cost us roughly 6200 INR. Better get the US dollars from India .
5. You can get the Pakistani currency for shopping from the State Bank of Pakistan counter at their immigration center .
Checking and Verification End to End:-
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Arrival Indian Side***********************************
1. The corridor entry road has a huge gate where your passports and ETA forms will be checked. To enter the Indian Immigration building the Passport and ETA forms are checked again at the security and then you are allowed in.
2.A dose of Polio is administered to everyone and the ETA form is stamped with the same. Covid vaccination and RTPCR is also checked and an entry is made by the officials in their register against your phone number.
3.At the immigration counter the Passports are checked and Thumb prints and fingerprints are verified followed by a Photograph. Someone from the security forces will then ask you to declare the cash you are carrying along and a note of the same is made on a form.
4.Then you are let out from the other side where an E buggy is waiting which takes you to the Indian border where you cross the Indian side and enter Pakistan. Before you enter Pakistan the BSF forces check your Passport and ETA form again.
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Arrival Pakistani Side***********************************
1.Once you enter the Pakistani side first you are given a warm welcome by the Rangers who will check your documents(RTPCR , Vaccination , ETA Form , Passport) followed by a temp check.
2. Another E buggy will then take you to the Pakistani Immigration center.
3. Outside the center your RTPCR and COVID Certs are checked again . They have RTPCR kits available there just in case someone forgets to bring the report.
4.At this juncture you have the kiosks from State Bank of Pakistan where you can exchange INR for dollars or Pakistani Currency. Adjacent to this counter is the counter where you have to get the IMMIGRATION slips by paying 20 US dollars(2 slips per devotee will be allotted)
5.Next you enter the immigration building where post security check you will be greeted warmly. This will be followed by thumb print and fingerprint scan and a Photograph.
6.Just before you exit the building from the other side you will be given yellow tags with "YATREE" imprinted on them denoting you are from the Indian side.
7.Once you exit a bus will escort you to the Gurudwara which is a 5 minute drive across the vast fields and river Ravi. The bus has 4 cameras installed and there is no scope of you leaving anything unattended or leaving it behind.
8.The entry to the Gurudwara is divided into 2 sections .One for the Indian devotees and the other for the Pakistani Devotees. The Indians are tagged with yellow cards with "
Yatree" imprinted and the locals are recognized by the cards imprinted "
Visitor"
9.Before you enter someone from the security forces will welcome you and will brief you about the whereabouts like toilets, Market, Sarover etc. Finally you enter the 42 acre premise with a pristine view of the holy Sanctum where Shree Guru Grant Sahib ji is placed on the 1st floor.
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Departure Pakistani Side***********************************
1.4PM(Pakistan Standard Time) is the when the last but will depart and you are supposed to be there by that time. Not that you can stay there after that but its better to avoid last minute rush.
2. The Exit is from the same side as the entry where your passports & ETA forms are checked and an entry is made .
3.The bus takes you to the immigration center where you have to hand over the tagged cards and get your luggage checked. This will be followed by thumb print and fingerprint scan and a Photograph. The official will then stamp your immigration card .Before you exit the Immigration slip will also be taken from you
4.The E buggy then takes you to the Pakistani border from where you cross to the Indian side.
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Departure Indian Side***********************************
1.The BSF forces will check your Passports and ETA Forms
2.The E buggy will escort you to the Indian Immigration center.
3.Security check of luggage and yourself will be done
4.At the immigration counter your thumb print scan and a Photograph will be taken. Your ETA Form will be stamped as well.
5.Before you exit the building an official will take your ETA form as well.
Below are/is the general observations/experience from the Pilgrimage:-
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1.The Gurudwara is the 2nd largest in the world spanning an area of 42 acres. The main sanctum was initially only 3 acres which was then expanded to the current size.
2.The construction end to end was completed in 9 months with workers working 24/7.A round of applause for the Pakistani Government.
3.Once you enter the gurudwara premises you don't need to keep your documents handy .
4.The premise is HUGE and at the center is the sanctum. Its very well built and very clean.
5.
CAUTION: You will be
BOMBARDED with locals greeting you and asking your well being AND asking for a photograph. Trust me most of our time was spent taking pictures with the locals and chatting.
6. People are so welcoming that you almost feel like a celebrity there. They are equally curious to know about how things are across the border and mind you 9 out of 10 people will not engage in a political discussion. The discussion is mostly about know how(Where do you work. How's life in India, How can we visit India etc.
7. Most of them will either speak in Punjabi or Urdu and it is so heartwarming to listen to their dialects and grammar and the language itself.
8. Families with their kids and elders will greet you like you are their own and will initiate the conversation on their own. You genuinely enjoy talking to them. That personal touch is always there that too without being too intrusive.
9.The Langar hall(Community Kitchen) is very well maintained , clean , Hygienic with langar available whenever you need.
10.There is a small market just behind the gurudwara where you can do some shopping (Eating Joints, Handicrafts etc..) We bought the famous Soan Halwa from there as a souvenir.
10. While I was clicking pictures a bunch of folks humorously asked me to take their photograph as well which was then followed by a good 5 minute conversation with them . It was a nice pep talk.
11. Toilets were clean and maintained.
12. The sarover for gents and ladies is separate . The gents one was open where as the one for the ladies had a covered roof.
13. There are rooms along the periphery which are designated for devotees in case they wish to rest for some time with mattresses and other comforts.
14.Tiktok seems to be really popular in Pakistan as there were many folks making Tiktok videos mainly of them greeting Indians and things like that.
15.From whatever conversation i had with the locals it seems that the Bollywood industry is a big thing for them. Probably they are bigger fans than us.
16. There were 2 short conversations where i could sense a tone "You are in my land so do as i say" kinda stuff even when there was no need to. Another gentleman tried to convince me that I should vote against the regime and thing like that. No doubt he heard a befitting reply from me and my dad. But that doesn't leave a bad taste after all there are bad apples everywhere.
17.I would suggest to reach there as early as possible and enjoy the kirtan, langar, market and interesting conversations with the locals.
18. There were a lot of bloggers as well who were busy making videos and stuff.
19.The day we were were scheduled to visit there was an power outage at the Indian immigration center without a backup where the systems were down for quite some time. The driver who escorted us from the Pakistani side told us that. That was a bummer.
20. 1 Indian National Rupee is equal to 2 Pakistani rupee so you get to pay half in Pakistani currency when you shop.
21. We left from our Home town Jalandhar and it took almost 2.15 hours to reach the corridor.
Overall I see this visit as a success where we visited the holy place and met a lot of nice people who just like us need peace and prosperity across borders. They also speak the same language and have a similar lifestyle. Not for a moment i felt I am in a country which is an arch rival as the media calls them. Our thoughts might not make a difference in ground reality but the memories we make will leave a long lasting impression.
I would encourage folks on this forum to visit this holy place and make some memories for life. I would be more than happy to extend any help if required for your journey to be a success and a memory to cherish.
27th December 2021, 19:36
(73)
Thanks
) could complete this pilgrimage successfully. 