Kartarpur Corridor opens: Here's all you need to know

The corridor is entirely fenced from both sides, and entry for Pakistani and Indian pilgrims is separate. Pakistani pilgrims are required to carry their Computerised National Identity Card (CNICs). The Indian pilgrims going to Pakistan after seeking a visa under the 1974 bilateral protocol would be entering from terminal one i.e. utilizing the same terminal from where Pakistan pilgrims or other nationals would be entering.

All pilgrims would be issued an RFID which will be their entry and exit ticket from the Gurudwara.

The complex has been extended more than 10 times of its original size, from four acres to 42 acres (making it the biggest Sikh pilgrimage site in the world).

The complex includes:

10 acres of courtyard.

152,000sqft of Baradari which has Darshan Deories, Sarovar, Devan Asthan and 20 dormitories to host 500 pilgrims.

28,190 sqft langar hall which can serve up to 3,000 pilgrims at one time

mehman khana of 115,880 sqft that has 20 dormitories, 40 family rooms and facility to host over 900 pilgrims intending to stay over night.

Tent city has been constructed to host 10,000 pilgrims  — in the phase 2, this will be expanded to the gurudwara complex itself.

A medical center and service kiosks have been set up.

263 cameras have been installed, a separate monitoring room has been readied to ensure safety and security.

Total cost incurred for the construction of the corridor's phase one is estimated at $100 million equating to Pakistani rupee 16 billion.

 

The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak spent his final 18 years preaching and farming in Kartarpur village in Pakistan. The gurudwara that was built there after his death was destroyed by floods and then rebuilt in the 1920s by the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh — the grandfather of current Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

The proposal to open up the corridor was first presented to Pakistan by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, although Pakistan claims it had prepared the blueprint in the early 1990s.

However, it was Pakistan's current PM Imran Khan who took the initiative to make it a reality. The Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cooperated and both sides opened it up for Sikh pilgrims around the world.