MAYOR Aditya Mufti Ariffin welcomed the Haul pilgrims in Banjarbaru for the 18th Grand Haul of Syekh Muhammad Zaini Abdul Ghani or Guru Sekumpul in Banjar Regency, Thursday (26/1). It is planned that the event will be attended by Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin.
The South Kalimantan Police and the Banjar Police deployed 1,200 joint personnel to secure this Guru Sekumpul Grand Haul. This year’s haul is predicted to attract more pilgrims as it will be held for the first time after two years of being canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In order to provide food for the pilgrims, thirty public kitchens have been opened in three districts in the Regency. The kitchens are staffed by 5,442 volunteers who will be cooking 63 cows to provide tens of thousands of rice packages to the pilgrims.
In addition, tight security measures have been put in place including detector equipment, golf cars, health services, and floating docks. The event is expected to be a success and will provide an opportunity for pilgrims to partake in religious rituals.
At the 15th Haul (2020), more than two million pilgrims packed the Sekumpul area, Martapura City which became the center of the event at the Ar Raudhah Sekumpul Mosque.
The Guru SEkumpul Haul certainly creates another phenomenon, such as tons of free food, drinks, and even petrol, as well as an all–free motorcycle workshop.
As if competing to provide good service to the guests who attended the Guru Sakumpul Haul, along the A Yani protocol from Banjarmasin and Hulu Sungai, many people shared food and drinks for free. “We have prepared five thousand food packs to distributed for free tonight,” said Aini, one of the haul volunteers.
Pilgrims who passed on A Yani Street or other roads heading to Martapura almost all got food and drinks, even the phenomenon of sharing food since the first day to the peak of the event.@