Sikh celebrate harvest festival

Police drink a special beverage as part of the celebration

Thousands of Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab have been celebrating the annual spring harvest festival of Vaisakhi.

The day also marks the birth anniversary of the Sikh order or the Khalsa.

Community kitchens or Langars serving free food were set up by villagers along most routes leading to historic Sikh shrines.

Villagers, perched on trucks and tractor-trolleys, made their way to the nearest Gurudwara or Sikh temple to celebrate Vaisakhi.

A devotee prays at the shrine at Anandpur Sahib

Many visited the holy shrine in the town of Anandpur Sahib, where the Khalsa was first set up in 1699.

"Coming here gives me spiritual peace," said one devotee, Manjinder Kaur.

"I always want to come here again and again," he said.

Row

But an official function to mark the end of a year-long celebration on the 300th year of the Khalsa evoked little interest.

Correspondents say the event was marred by an ongoing row between Sikh religious and political leaders.

The issue is said to have divided Sikhs, as a power struggle rages over the control of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee - a powerful body which controls Sikh shrines and institutions across north India.

Last month, the head priest of the Golden Temple - the foremost Sikh shrine - was removed at the behest of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, himself a Sikh.

The move sparked criticism from those who saw it as unnecessary dabbling in religion by a political leader.