WAH CANTT: The 313th religious Sikh festival of Besakhi concluded at the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hasan Abdal on Friday.

The concluding ceremony was attended by over 10,000 Sikh and Hindu yatrees (religious tourists) including over 2,000 from India, Canada and other countries.

Besakhi, also called Vesakhi, is a festival that marks the inauguration of the Sikh New Year, as well the founding of the Sikh community in 1699.

On a broader scale, the festival also celebrated the arrival of harvest season in the sub-continent.

Thousands of Sikh devotees performed Keerthan , followed by Ardaas (prayer) and the ritual concluded with the distribution of ‘parsad,’

Hasan Abdal’s sacred Sikh temple was packed with devotees, who celebrated the spring festival at one of the most sacred sites of Sikhism.