PM begins his New Year at the Golden Temple

Amritsar: On a personal visit to the holy city, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began his new year by paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday morning.

Singh along with his wife Gursharan Kaur reached the Golden Temple at 6.30 am and went to the sanctum sanctorum where they spent half an hour.

They listened to the Shabd Kirtan (religious hymns) and Ardas (prayer) while sitting cross-legged with folded hands in the VIP corridor of the sanctum sanctorum of the Harmandar Sahab, popularly known as Golden Temple.

The Prime Minister was attired in a white Kurta-Pyjama and a dark grey jacket while Gursharan Kaur wore a maroon-colored shawl and cream-colored 'salweer kameez'.

The couple, who arrived here last evening, took full round of the marbled periphery around the water pool of Golden Temple to reach the sanctum sanctorum.

They listened to the religious hymns for half and hour with rapt attention and closed eyes.

Afterwards they went to Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, to pay obeisance where they listened to the Ardas for five minutes.

The PM was escorted in the periphery of the Golden Temple in three different human chains created by the NSG from Delhi, troops of Punjab Police and then Task force of the the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the apex religious body of the Sikhs.

Meanwhile, after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in the morning, the couple while coming out had to face the protest of supporters of Anna Hazare.

The incident took place when Hazare supporters numbering around 40, including some women, raised slogans against the government as well as corruption.

Earlier, the couple were given Siropa (robe of honour) by the Sikh priest Jaswidner Singh in the sanctum sanctorum and later they were again honoured at the Information Centre of Golden Temple by SGPC General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Bahur and SGPC member Kiranjot Kaur.

Information officer of Golden Temple Gurbachan Singh said that couple were also presented small gold plated portrait of the Golden Temple, a set of religious books, shawls as robe of honour at the information centre.

He said the two also took sip of "Amrit" (holy nectar) from water pond at Har Ki Pauri in the periphery of the Golden Temple.

After leaving the Golden Temple, the couple visited the Hindu shrine Durgiana Temple here where they paid obeisance and were honored by the management of the Temple.

They then went back to Circuit House (local Government Guest House) where they had stayed overnight.

Before leaving for the airport on his way back to Delhi, the Prime Minister spent nearly 30 minutes with his Amritsar-based brothers Surjit Singh Kohli, Daljit Singh Kohli, three sisters Gian Kaur, Nirman Kaur and Manjit Kaur

and their children.

It was a rare occasion for the entire family to come together on the New Year's Day as around 17 family members sat for a while and wished each other, said Surjit Singh Kohli.

Amritsar is the hometown of the Prime Minister, who studied at local Hindu College after his family migrated here from Pakistan after the country's partition. He also has some other relatives here, besides his immediate kin including his brothers and sisters are permanently settled here.

The Prime Minister had last visited Golden Temple in March 2009, just a few weeks after his heart surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.