Neeraj Bagga
Amritsar, December 31
With a view to commencing the New Year on a spiritual note, a large number of tourists from around the world and across the country arrived in the holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple here today.
Last year, the SGPC had announced that over two lakh devotees had paid obeisance at the Golden Temple from the midnight of December 31, 2021, to the dawn of the New Year. The figure is likely to remain high on the first day of this New Year too. Among others, politicians and celebrities from the region also come to pay obeisance on the New Year.
The New Year coincides with the weekend. The room occupancy in hotels of all categories across the city has swelled.
Paramveer Singh, general manager of a luxury hotel in the city, said the room occupancy on an average exceeded 80 per cent in all city hotels and those around the Golden temple were nearly booked to capacity.
Satnam Singh, who operates a hotel in the walled city, said the room occupancy in hotels, guest houses and inns around the Golden temple was likely to surpass the availability of rooms. Sensing this, a majority of the hotels have doubled the room tariff for the weekend.
Harwinder Kaur, who works at a home for the aged in Sydney, came with her two sons — Sahibpreet Singh, pursuing engineering, and Sabarpreet Singh, a school student with a keen interest in cricket. She said every year, they wished to start the dawn of the New Year with the blessings of the Gurus. However, Covid-19 had prevented them from moving out of Australia during the past two years.
Tight security
A large number of tourists from around the world and across the country arrived in the holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple
As the New Year coincides with the weekend, room occupancy in hotels across the city has swelled
Security has been tightened in the city, especially at entry points and around the Golden Temple. The police have put up barricades at 72 places across the city
