Baisakhi is one of the major festivals of Sikhism. This Festival falls every year in the first month of Vikram Samvat. The way Festival of Holi and Diwali is important in Hinduism. Similarly, the Festival of Baisakhi is special for Sikhs.
Various names are known about this Festival in different places of the country, such as Nava Varsh in Bengal, Pooram Vishu in Kerala, and Bihu in Assam. People belonging from the Sikh community celebrate Baisakhi as New Year.
This Festival is also known as the celebration of agriculture. Farmers are happy to see their ripe Rabi crop and celebrate this day as a big festival with great joy and cheer. But apart from the crop, many other things are associated with Baisakhi.
Festivals of Sikhism
Sikh community celebrate Baisakhi as New Year
Festival is also known as the celebration of agriculture
The celebration of Baisakhi falls every year on 13-14th April. And on this day, the king of the planets, the Sun, travels in Aries, which denotes Mesha Sankranti. According to Indian traditions, people chant and meditate on the day of Sankranti, along with bathing in holy rivers. According to Puranas, bathing in the Ganges on the day of Baisakhi gives merit equal to performing Ashwamedha Yagya.
On the day of Baisakhi, the people of the Sikh community celebrate special celebrations in the Gurudwaras. Because on this day, the 10th and last Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singhji, founded the Khalsa Panth on April 13, 1699, in Anandpur Sahib to combat the atrocities of the Mughals. Along with this, Govind Singhji had ended the genealogy of the Gurus.
After this, the people of the Sikh community made Guru Granth Sahib their guide. Also, on this day, the Sikh people accepted their surname Singh. It is also a reason to make this day special.
Like Deepawali, many days before, they clean the house and make Rangoli. At the same time, they decorate the homes with lighting. Many dishes were prepared at the Festival of Baisakhi, and Sikh people go to the Gurudwara in the morning.
They go to the Gurudwara, recite the Guru Granth Sahib, and do kirtan. On the occasion of Baisakhi, people enjoy the fair, which is happening in many places. Punjabi people celebrate this day by performing their special dance Bhangra. Although this Festival is known by different names all over India, in Punjab and Haryana, its brightness is different.
The story is related to Guru Gobind Singh and their Pawns. Guru Govind Singh accumulates all their followers at Anandpur Sahib Maidan to test their followers. To test their followers, he put a condition that I want the head of living persons. Only five people were ready to serve their lives.
They are Dayaram from Lahore, Dharamdas from Saharanpur, Himmat Rai from Jagannath, Mohawk Chand from Dwarka, and Shahid Chandra from Bidar. Then Guru Gobind Singh first took him inside the room, and at the same time, a stream of blood was seen flowing from inside. After taking all four inside respectively, a bloodstream was seen flowing. And the other people thought that these five people sacrificed their lives.
After some time, Guru Gobind came outside with these five people. And he said that I had killed animals in place of them. Because I was taking their test, and these people succeeded in their test.
Then, he introduced these five people as his five pawns. Since then, Guru Govind Rai was also known as Guru Gobind Singh. The word Singh also includes the name of Sikhs, and this day became very important.
Another story attached to this Festival belongs to the time of Mahabharat. During their exile, the Pandavas reached katraj Taal because they felt thirsty. Leaving Yudhister to quench his thirst, the four brothers went to the lake, where they drank water even after the Yaksha refused; as a result, all four died. When Yudhister did not see his brother coming back, he worried about him and searched for them.
By seeking his brother, he reached that pond and wanted to drink water. Yaksha arrived again and told Yudhishthira that if you're going to drink water, he needed to answer my questions first.
Then Yudhishthira starts answering the question. For his answers, Yaksha got impressed with him. Then Yaksha spoke about his brother's death and said you could bring any of your brothers back to Life. Yudhishthir prayed to get his brother Sahadev Back to Life.Then Yudhishthir said it would be better if two sons of Mata Kunti were alive and one son of Mata Madri was also alive. Since then, five bare feet have walked ahead of the procession, and the Festival of the Baisakhi is celebrated.
According to mythology, bathing in the Ganges on the occasion of Baisakhi is particularly virtuous. On this day, people of the Hindu sect take a bath in the Ganges and praise Goddess Ganga. Baisakhi also has a very happy significance from the astrological point of view because, on this day, there is Vishakha Nakshatra in the sky.
On the occasion of Mesha Sankranti, people worship the Goddess in the hilly areas. They wish for happiness and prosperity in the family.