TAG: GS-1: HISTORY
THE CONTEXT: India and Pakistan have renewed the Kartarpur Corridor agreement for another five years, ensuring continued access for Indian pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
EXPLANATION:
About Kartarpur Corridor:
- Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, also known as the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across river Ravi. It is one of the most significant historical and spiritual places for Sikhs.
- According to historians, the first Sikh Guru (Guru Nanak Dev) had arrived in Kartarpur between 1520 and 1522 and spent the last 18 years of his life there.
- It was in Kartarpur where he laid the foundations of a Sikh religion.
- The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district Punjab, India.
- The Kartarpur Corridor is a travel route connecting India and Pakistan, facilitating Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan, a significant Sikh religious site.
- An agreement was initially signed on October 24, 2019, to allow this corridor’s operation, valid for five years.
- The agreement has been renewed for another five years, extending its validity until 2029, ensuring uninterrupted access for pilgrims.
- The corridor allows approximately 5,000 pilgrims daily, but current daily numbers have decreased to only a few hundred.
- Pilgrims are required to pay a service fee of $20 (around ₹1,680), which India has requested Pakistan to waive.
- Pakistan claims the fee is necessary to cover the $17 million spent on refurbishing the gurdwara.
- The corridor represents a significant step in facilitating religious tourism and enhancing cultural ties between the two nations.
Additional Information
Guru Nanak
- He was born in 1459 in Talwandi Rai Bhoi village near Lahore, which was later renamed Nankana Sahib. He was the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus and the founder of Sikhism.
- He advocated the ‘Nirguna’ form of bhakti. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
- The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors and also other religious poets, like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir, in the Adi Granth Sahib.
- These hymns, called ‘Gurbani’, are composed in many languages.
- Kartarpur gurudwara is the revered shrine about 4km across the border where Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life.
Source:
Spread the Word