The Kartarpur Corridor is the sacred place where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, stayed for the last 18 years of his life. Sadly, the place isn’t in India for unknown reasons and one has to cross the border with Pakistan to seek the blessings of the Nanak Sahib.
Kartarpur was the location where Guru Nanak founded the first Sikh commune, laid the code of ethics and also chose the second guru for the new religion.
Why did I visit Kartarpur being a non-Sikh
that too in an enemy country?
Well, being a restless journalist who wants to know the smallest details and having visited the Golden Temple thrice in the past, the desire to visit Kartarpur was always there as people in Amritsar always spoke greatly about the Gurudwara.
However, during my visit to Amritsar in 2022 one Sardar in Golden Temple, who has now become a good friend said “Why don’t you visit Dera Nanak Sahib in Kartarpur? It’s a great place and even though it is in Pakistan, you can travel hassle-free and he himself has visited the place.”
That is when the urge to visit the place increased. In the first week of June 2023, I spoke to my friend Pradeep Padgaokar, a former journalist and another Krishnanath Kolvalkar. Initially, they both were a bit apprehensive and their reaction was “Pakistan?”
However, I was able to convince them and that’s when I started the process by filling up the application on Union Home Ministry’s website and waiting for the ETA to arrive.
However, to our shock, within two days the Intelligence Bureau (IB) personnel knocked on our doors wanting to know the details of our trip and Why Pakistan?
We provided them with all the details and my desire to visit the place.
Our visit was on the 6th of July 2023 but there was no sign of ETA approval, we thought it was rejected and our tickets to Amritsar would be wasted but just two days before the trip I checked the status on the website and the message “Click here to Download ETA”. That was the happiest moment for us as all of us got ETA and we started packing our bags.
Crossing Kartarpur Corridor…
From Amritsar, the terminal was around 60 km from Amritsar, we took a taxi from Hotel at 8 am and reached the place in about 75 minutes.
However, we were sent back from the first check itself as we did not have a COVID-19 -ve certificate. We were told the health centre is in a closeby village and would get it in a few minutes.
There is a dedicated team at this village health centre for certificates and as such we were out of it within 30 minutes of getting our document.
As we entered the terminal we were checked again – Passport, ETA, COVID-19 and Aadhar card.
Once inside, it’s exactly like an Airport sans the lounge, shops and flights. It isn’t crowded and the process is smooth.
Thereafter the medical team gave us Polio drops. The reason is that Polio is eradicated from India, so they want to ensure you don’t get it once you return from Pakistan.
We were asked to exchange INR for dollars in case we did not do and as such we did the need and walked to the immigration.
The guy in immigration said he was from Konkan and spoke to me quite nicely but took a lot of information, candidly though. He took our fingerprints, retina scan and stamped the ETA.
After having crossed immigration, another check was at Customs wherein you have to declare everything that you have carried – cameras, watch, the amount of cash (only dollars worth INR 11000 is allowed for each person). They counted our cash physically and let us go.
We were told not to buy anything from the other side and not carry any gifts.
Here we were now going out of the terminal from where we had to now take a small EV vehicle upto the border gate.
We were checked again and asked to walk across the border which was around 100 steps.
Crossing the border was a great feeling but we weren’t allowed to click any pictures here.
On the Pakistan side, a driver of an EV welcomed us and took us to their immigration point.
We paid the mandatory visit fee of 20 dollars in Pakistan, and then immigration checks some queries and then asked us to wait for the bus.
After 20 minutes the bus arrived and we were on our way to the Gurudwara.
Visiting Kartarpur, finally…
The 4-km bus ride was stunning, entire stretch is surrounded by lush green fields and barbed fences along side.
We crossed over the Ravi river and got the first proper glimpse of Darbar Sahib.
Upon reaching the Gurudwara, you are greeted again and your passport and entry stamp are verified again. That’s the last point when your documents are verified until you return. And there I was, at the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Narowal, Pakistan !
Entering in we were briefed by Pakistani officials of do’s and don’ts and the last bus timing.
Kartarpur, which lies on the banks of river Ravi, also marks the last resting place of Guru Nanak with both a grave and a samadhi.
The Gurudwara has two separate entries for Indians and Pakistanis before they meet inside the premise. The main Gurudwara is in the centre and the whole complex surrounding it,
The complex is huge and extremely well-maintained. The Gurudwara and the complex stand tall in white and shine bright.
It’s a huge open area where people walk, talk and relax with the main shrine in the middle. It mentions to cover your head inside the premise and we did not have a volunteer provided us with a piece of cloth.
The hymns are played on the first floor, and you have a place to sit there. We headed to the main shrine for darshan and spent some time soaking in the atmosphere.
The facilities are top-notch. There’s a locker facility where you can keep your bags. Ample public convenience and drinking water setups.
And how can one not have the Langar when at a Gurudwara? And when you are visiting Kartarpur Corridor, you cannot miss out on the langar. There’s a langar hall beside and it’s extremely clean.
Right next to the Pakistani entrance is a small shopping complex. There are small shops selling everything from handicraft items, food, clothes et all. There’s also a money exchange counter there.
Back to India…
With great memories, we embarked on our return journey but a mention here is that Pakistanis keep you waiting at the exit place. We had to wait for around 45 minutes for the return bus and only when we started questioning did the personnel there contact the immigration and they sent the bus.
Nonetheless, it’s great that anyone and everyone is allowed to visit the Kartarpur Corridor irrespective of their religion.
We came back to the terminal, Customs reached our cash, immigration official stamped and kept the ETA and we were out of the terminal.
Box
The process & docs
- Apply on Home Ministry website for ETA with Aadhar, passport & photo
- Carry COVID-19 negative certificate
- Carry passport, ETA, Aadhar
- Only cash upto INR 11000 allowed to carry
- Carry currency only in US dollars
- DSLRs, GoPro allowed to be carried
- Do not buy anything from Pakistan side