More than one lakh pilgrims are expected to halt here during the festivities, for which elaborate arrangements have been made. Camping and parking facilities are being offered to the tourists at nearly a dozen sites near the city. A large number of tents have been pitched at various places. Prefabricated bathrooms and 525 urinals have also been provided at there camping sites. In all, the tented accommodation will hold 1,09,000 pilgrims.

On the celebrations front, the Punjab Government has raised a huge pandal in the 4.5 acres of land opposite Gurdwara Keshgarh Sahib for holding the inaugural function of thefestivities on Thursday. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is slated to inaugurate the function. It is estimated that the pandal will cost over Rs 1 crore, to be paid by the Anandpur Foundation. The pandal is expected to accommodate over 60,000 persons. A huge gate has already been raised at the main entrance, while bulbs have been hung across trees and street light poles.

The Army on its part has launched `Operation Sahayata' by pitching 4,000 additional tents to accommodate 10-12,000 pilgrims. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) too has made arrangements at fair. These include a newly constructed inn of 276 rooms. While the Sikhs from abroad numbering approximately 300 are being accommodated at Bhai Nand School, 40 rooms are available at Quila Fatehgarh and Nanki Niwas.

Among the paid accommodation being offered are 30 tents with five star arrangements at Hotel Ashok. The charges range from Rs 1,000 to 2,500. In the light of holy city title accorded to Anandpur, the hotel authorities areparticular in serving vegetarian meals.

Temporary STD-PCOs have been set up at various parts of the city. Besides, mobile PCOs have been pressed into service. At least 4,000 residents in the city have offered free accommodation to the pilgrims to tide over the shortage of rooms.

Reception and assistance counters have been set up at various bus stands, railway stations and airports at Delhi, Chandigarh and the city to help the pilgrims visiting from outside the State. It is estimated that over three lakh pilgrims have visited the city since the beginning of this month.

Hourly bus service has been provided at ISBT Delhi to felicitate pilgrims visiting the city. While the railway station building has already been upgraded here, additional coaches have been attached to the Himalayan Queen shuttling between Delhi and the nearby Nangal Dam. All express trains on Delhi-Ambala section of the rail route will halt at Sirhind to pick up devotees visiting Anandpur.

On the development front, all the prestigiousproject's with the Anandpur Sahib Urban Development Authority (ASUDA) are through. These include Panj Piare Park near the Punjab State Electricity Board Rest house, two huge gate ways on the Kiratpur-Nangal route, four-lane in the 11-km long stretch of Kiratpur-Anandpur Sahib road, roads leading to the Naina Devi temple and Dashmesh Academy have been widened and strengthened and a canal-based water treatment plant with a capacity of 3.5 MGD has been constructed.

A sports stadium near the Charan Ganga rivulet has been constructed at the cost of Rs 60 lakh for holding the traditional sports' festival. New shopping complex with 44 shops has also been constructed at the cost of Rs 66.91 lakh on vacant municipal council land.

As part of the celebrations, Sikh relics from the National Museum and the SGPC run Gurdwaras have been assembled at the heritage exhibition at the local Khalsa college. These not only include traditional weapons of the Sikh Gurus and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but also other rare documents. Atreaty with the palm impression of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Guru Gobind Singh's `Zafarnama' are some of these documents.

Several ministers of the Punjab cabinet have also been sent to other parts of the country and Lahore to lead five different processions from the native cities of the Panj Piaras who were administered `amrit' 300 years ago. To accommodate the participants in these marches, five `villages' have been established in the vicinity of the city.