Being amidst a crowd of close to five million Sikhs from around the world in a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas is not only exciting but also a humbling experience. It’s not merely a sea of turbans, but the largest-ever Sikh gathering. greeted by the hot, dry, dusty conditions of the Punjab, in April 1999.

The gathering becomes an inspiration when one wonders how anyone in the huge crowd - more than twice the number of annual Haj pilgrims at Mecca - can always manage to break free of the surrounding crowd to partake of a free meal of chappati, dhal and hot tea - and at any time of day.

The usually sleepy town of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab was transformed into a city of lights and splendour for the greater part of April as it hosted the 300th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Khalsa, the core discipline of the Sikhs.

The Sikhs were assembled to celebrate an important date in their history. In 1699, the 10th and the last living Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, gave his followers amrit, the water of immortality. It is prepared by stirring sweetened-water with the Khanda, a double-edged sword, while reciting certain Sikh scriptures. Hence, the initiation ceremony is called the Khanda-da-Pahul (amrit of the double-edged sword).

From April 8 to 15, at the Anandpur Sahib celebration, at least 54,000 Sikhs worldwide who had assembled on the very spot where Guru Gobind Singh first gave his Sikhs the Khanda-da-Pahul, received the amrit and counted themselves as the Khalsa.

Anandpur Sahib is no stranger to festivities as it is host to the annual Holla Mohala, the Sikh martial festival. However, the martial festival only attracts about 500,000. Thus, the surge of visitors for the 1999 Vaisakhi celebrations demanded army-style preparations.

As part of the preparations, the authorities involved had designated various locations as camp sites. The delegation from Southeast Asia and Australia were designated a camp site about 15 minutes walking distance from the Takth Sri Kesgarh Sahib, one of the five Sikh seats of authority. This was one of the camps closest to the centre of activity.

The delegation led by the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM), the region’s largest Sikh organization, stayed in army tents specially erected for the celebration.

On April 8, the delegation was visited by Indian security personnel. Apparently, we were staying a little too close for comfort to the nearby white marble complex which accommodated the then Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who also attended the celebrations.

The camp site was equipped with bathing and toilet facilities, saving visitors from having to dip in the huge tanks at various Sikh Gurdwaras in Anandpur Sahib. It is a tradition of the Sikhs to dip themselves in water tanks called sarowar. With the huge number of pilgrims, this would have been quite a tricky task.

"We were excited by the show of numbers in Malaysia where 15,000 took part in the four-day grand Vaisakhi event in Kuala Lumpur. That was the biggest ever gathering of Sikhs in Malaysia but what greeted us in Punjab was in a different league all together," said SNSM president, Harbinder Singh, who headed the Malaysian delegation. "The entire Malaysian crowd at the grand event in Kuala Lumpur couldn’t even fill the main hall at Anandpur Sahib."

The main hall, a temporary building that can seat 100,000 people at a time, was complete with a huge chandelier in the centre and closed circuit television. To top it all, they had a huge, breathtaking picture of Takht Kesgarh Sahib as the backdrop.

Among the main events at the Anandpur Sahib gathering were the marches from five corners of India. These were the places where the first five Sikhs to be initiated came from.

The ‘Khalsa March’ attracted millions of people from all around India.

On April 12, the five marches combined into one big march at Kirtapur Sahib, about 12 kilometres from Anandpur Sahib. The marchers then proceeded in unison with two decorated elephants in the front, followed by an array of Sikh religious leaders.

Among them were the acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht, Singh Sahib Giani Puran Singh; Jathedar of Takth Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Singh Sahib Professor Manjit Singh; Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Singh Sahib Giani Kewal Singh and the then President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, Bibi Jagir Kaur.

The Malaysian delegation also took part in the spirited march.

Besides the march, the celebration also featured sporting and cultural events. Some of the best Sikh religious hymns singers also performed, mostly to a full house.