For ‘ Akhand Patha ’ at Har Ki Pauri in Golden Temple , wait till 2016

Amritsar, October 15, 2013(Nikhil Bhardwaj)-If you want to have “akhand path” conducted at the most sacred and pious place of Sikhs, Har Ki Pauri in the Golden Temple, then you will have to wait for a few more years for your turn. Because of the sudden rush of advance booking at the sacred place, the Golden Temple authorities have stopped the booking for holding “path” till 2016.
No special favour is given at the Golden Temple and the “path” booking is done on a first come, first served basis. Darbar Sahib manager Partap Singh said that owing to the huge rush of devotees at the booking centre, booking of “path” at Har Ki Pauri had been stopped for  the next three years till 2016.

However, booking of “path” is open at the two other sacred places on the temple premises: Dukh Bhanjani Beri and at the rear side of the temple. “For the devotees, holding a ‘path’ at Har Ki  Pauri holds special meaning,” manager Partap Singh said.
He said 40 to 50 “path” are being performed in the temple daily, which means that till 2016, there is advance booking running into thousands. Golden Temple officials said that “akhand path” is performed for 48 hours by Granthis in the name of the person who gets it booked and the conclusion is marked by a “bhog” ceremony.
Till now, manual records were maintained on booking of “akhand path”. Now, plans are afoot to computerise all records, which will also offer more transparency.