Veteran Sikh leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra died on Thursday following a prolonged heart ailment.
Mr Tohra, 80, headed the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the body administering Sikh religious and cultural institutions worldwide.
Crowds began to gather at Mr Tohra's ancestral village, Tohra, to mourn his demise when news of his death emerged.
Mr Tohra, who was elected president of the SGPC for a record 26 terms, passed away at a hospital in Delhi.
Political impact
Last week Mr Tohra had suffered from what doctors described as "a massive second heart attack" while participating in a religious service , Kar Sewa, at Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Doctors treating him at a local Amritsar hospital had decided to shift Mr Tohra to a Delhi-based cardiac care centre on Wednesday.
However, only hours after being flown to Delhi, Mr Tohra suffered another heart attack which proved fatal.
Mr Tohra's demise days ahead of the Indian parliamentary elections could prove to be a major political loss for Punjab's main Sikh party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is the main opposition party in Punjab.
President of the party, Parkash Singh Badal, described Mr Tohra's death as "a colossal loss".
As a mark of respect to Mr Tohra's memory, the SGPC secretariat at Amritsar's Golden Temple Complex will remain closed on Thursday and Friday, when the leader's funeral will be held at his ancestral village.
Meanwhile, arrangements are now being put in place to receive the veteran leader's body at the Punjab border, when it is driven up from Delhi.
From the border at what is known as the Shambu barrier, the body will be escorted by Shiromani Akali Dal leaders to Tohra, where it will be cremated according to Sikh rites on Friday.
Thousands of Shiromani Akali Dal workers are expected to attend the funeral.