Sikhs from across the world are congregating at Nanded in Maharashtra to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the consecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.

The Prime Minister will attend the celebrations on October 30.

''By the grace of God and Guru, I'm here,'' said Harihar Singh, US citizen. A conservationist by profession, American by birth and Sikh by choice, 54-year-old Harihar Singh, a US citizen, embraced the Sikh faith over 30 years ago.
He is in Nanded to be part of the biggest festival of the Sikh community called Guru-ta-gaddi.

''What inspired me about the Sikhs is that their leader Guru Teg Bahadur actually fought for the right of another religion, that of the Hindus, that for me is personally very inspiring,'' said Harihar Singh, US citizen.

Lakhs of devotees from countries like Canada, the UK and the US are making their way to Nanded to be part of the weeklong festivities observed every year.

It was in Nanded three hundred years ago, that Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh guru, consecrated the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, as the perpetual master.

"It's amazing to see how people from across the world come here, shows how important it is for the Sikhs," said Harpreet Kaur.

For any visitor Nanded would seem like a town in Punjab.

''We planned this trip at least 7-8 months ago. We flew down to Mumbai and then took a train here. I've never seen anything quite like this before. This is a once-in-a-lifetime program,'' said Ranvir Kaur.

But the Nanded Sikh festival has brought changes for the place, like a new airport and relief from many hours of load shedding.