Baisakhi Festival
Baisakhi Festival falls on the first day of Vaisakh month (April-May) according to Nanakshahi or Sikh Calendar. For this reason, Baisakhi is also popularly known as Vaisakhi. According to English calendar, the date of Baisakhi corresponds to April 13 every year and April 14 once in every 36 years. This difference in Baisakhi dates is due to the fact that day of Baisakhi is reckoned according to solar calendar and not the lunar calendar. The auspicious date of Baisakhi is celebrated all over India under different names and different set of rituals and celebrations. The festival is celebrated as Rongali Bihu in Assam, Naba Barsha in West Bengal and Tripura, Puthandu (Tamil New Year) in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala, and Maha Vishuba Sankranti in Orissa. In Sikhism, Basakhi is one of the most significant festivals commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699 by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobid Singh. To mark the celebrations, devotees attend the gurudwara, a Sikh place of worship. The celebrations start early as devotees, with flowers and offerings in their hands, proceed towards the gurdwara before dawn. Processions through towns are also common. Baisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (The Pure Ones) was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The momentous occasion was led by the last living Sikh spiritual teacher, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptized the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Baisakhi time, Sikhs and individuals of Punjabi descent reflect on the values taught to them by their gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa. For the large farming community of Punjab and Haryana, Baisakhi marks a New Year’s time as it is time to harvest rabi crop. On Baisakhi, farmers thank god for the bountiful crop and pray for good times ahead. People buy new clothes and make merry by singing, dancing and enjoying the best of festive food.
