Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims from around the globe converged on a temple in northwestern Pakistan to celebrate one of the most important festivals in the Sikh religion.
Besakhi, or Vaisakhi, is celebrated on the first day of the Sanskrit month of Besakh.
An estimated 1,500 Sikhs came from neighbouring India to the Sikh holy site of Panja Sahib, in the town of Hassan Abdal, in the Punjab Province.
The festival commemorates the day in 1699 when the Sikh leader, Guru Gobind Singh, established certain customs for the Sikh religion, such as giving all men the name Singh and forbidding them from cutting their hair or beards.
Pilgrims wash and children pray in the sacred waters that surround the inner sanctum.
