Updated:
AMRITSAR, April 04, 2004:
Hundreds of Sikhs came out of their homes to cheer an unusual procession.
Devotees carried silk-covered copies of the book on their heads over a four-kilometre distance (2.5 miles), to Amritsar international airport.
State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among those who considered themselves fortunate for the chance to help carry the holy books into the aircraft.
Each copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was reverentially placed on a separate seat.
The books were flown on board a chartered airliner which took off from Amritsar.
Hundreds of Sikhs came out of their homes to cheer an unusual procession.
Devotees carried silk-covered copies of the book on their heads over a four-kilometre distance (2.5 miles), to Amritsar international airport.
State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among those who considered themselves fortunate for the chance to help carry the holy books into the aircraft.
Each copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was reverentially placed on a separate seat.
Religious officials said that on arrival in Toronto the flight would be personally met by Prime Minister Paul Martin and leaders of Canada's Sikh community.
149 birs of the holy book would be arrived to Canada
AMRITSAR, April 03, 2004
TIMES NEWS NETWORKSikh devotees spread across Canada and North America would now be able to easily acquire and place the Sri Guru Granth Sahib in gurdwaras and their homes in consonance with the rehat maryada (Sikh code of conduct). To solve the problems of Sikhs living abroad in obtaining the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sachha Sauda Gurmat Parchar Society, Canada, would be airlifting a planeload of the holy book from Amritsar to Canada on Saturday.
Devotees started facing trouble after former Akal Takht jathedar Ranjit Singh forbade private publishers to print the holy book when he received complaints of violation of maryada in its printing and transportation.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment, had accorded the Sri Guru Granth Sahib a status of a "juristic person", the holy book becomes a person in the eyes of the law when it is installed at a gurdwara through a proper ceremony.
Jaswinder Singh Advocate of Akal Purakh Ki Fauj, who has organised the transportation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, told TNN that 149 birs of the holy book would be taken to Canada accompanied with Panj Pyaras (arriving from Canada), two sewadar and 17 crew members of the East West airlines.
Earlier, an aeroplane of Skyline, a Canada-based air cargo transport tycoon Surjit Babra's company, was to arrive here but due to technical reasons East West airlines plane arrived.
The plane would take off at 4:05 pm on Saturday and the birs would be placed in a special hall in Canada.
Jaswinder said the birs, placed in a special delivery vehicle, would be taken to the airport in form of a nagar kirtan from Gurdwara Ramsar. One bir each would be placed on aircraft seats. For the purpose a special 13 by 16 inch mattress has been prepared.
Each bir wrapped in a cover, three white sheets and one satin sheet would be placed on the seat of the aircraft with special seat belts. The birs would be covered with a six and a half feet broad canopy, he said.