TAXILA, Nov 9: Over 5,000 Sikh pilgrims, including 4,000 from India, left Gurdwara Punja Sahib for Lahore in the early hours of Thursday after participating in the 537th birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak.

During their three-day stay here, the Sikh pilgrims performed Ashnan, Akhand Path, Keertan and other rituals.

They also visited the symbolic shrine of Baba Wali Qandhari at the hilltop.

During their three-day stay in Lahore, they will perform rituals at Gurdwara Dera Sahib and leave for their home countries on November 11.

“I am going back with pleasant memories that will continue to remind me of my brief stay here,” Ms. Kour told this reporter at Hassanabdal railway station while leaving for Lahore.

“It’s my first visit to see our religious places here. By seeing our religious places in a good condition I don’t feel I am in another country.”

The respect and honour given to us by the people and the Government of Pakistan would last in our minds never to die again, said Ms Kour.

Neeta Patel said that Sikh youths had heard a lot about the upkeep of their religious places in this part of Punjab and during their eight-day stay here they saw with their own eyes that what they had heard in this regard was true to the letter.

Her brother, Bhalwanider Singh, said that the western media had misperceptions about Pakistan. “We have seen no Taliban or Islamic extremists right from Lahore to Hassanabdal. All bad feelings about Pakistan and its people proved false after our visit,” he said.

He said Pakistan was a peaceful country and its people were very hospitable having great respect for the religious sentiments of the people of other faiths.