Baisakhi

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Vaisakhi
Handsworth Vaisakhi.jpg
Vaisakhi celebrations by Sikhs
Also calledVaisakh(few people also call this festival as baisakhi)
Observed byHindus and Sikhs
Typereligious, cultural
SignificanceHindu Solar New Year,[1] Harvest festival, birth of the Khalsa, Punjabi new year
CelebrationsFairs, Ritual Bathing, Amrit Sanchaar (baptism) for new Khalsa, Parades and Nagar Kirtan
ObservancesPrayers, processions, raising of the Nishan Sahib flag, Fairs,dancing in the farms etc.
Related toSouth and Southeast Asian solar New Year

Vaisakhi (IAST: vaisākhī), also pronounced as Baisakhi marks the beginning of Hindu solar New year.[4][5] Vaisakhi marks the first day of the month of Vaisakha and is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year. This holiday also is known as Vaisakha Sankranti and celebrates the Solar new year, based on the Hindu Vikram Samvat calendar. It is additionally a spring harvest festival for many Indians.[6]

Vaisakhi is also a historical and religious festival in Hinduism and Sikhism. It is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year.[7][8][9][10][11][1][6][12]

For Hindus, the festival is their traditional solar new year, a harvest festival, an occasion to bath in sacred rivers such as Ganges, Jhelum, and Kaveri, visit temples, meet friends and take part in other festivities. In other parts of India, the Vaisakhi festival is known by various regional names.[13]

For Sikhs, Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region.[14][15] The significance of Vaisakhi as a major Sikh festival marking the birth of Sikh order started after the persecution and execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur for refusing to convert to Islam under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. This triggered the coronation of the tenth Guru of Sikhism and the historic formation of Khalsa, both on the Vaisakhi day.[16][17][18] Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire on 12 April 1801 (to coincide with Vaisakhi), creating a unified political state. Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak dev, conducted the coronation.[19] Vaisakhi was also the day when the British colonial empire official, General Reginald Dyer, committed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on a gathering, an event influential to the Indian movement against colonial rule.[14]

On Vaisakhi, Gurdwaras and Mandirs are decorated. Sikhs hold kirtans, visit local Gurdwaras, community fairs and nagar kirtan processions are held, and people gather to socialize and share festive foods.[8][14][20]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ColeSambhi1995p63
  2. "April 2019 Official Central Government Holiday Calendar". Government of India. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  3. "April 2020 Official Central Government Holiday Calendar". Government of India. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  4. Rinehart, Robin; Rinehart, Robert (2004). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8.
  5. Kelly, Aidan A.; Dresser, Peter D.; Ross, Linda M. (1993). Religious Holidays and Calendars: An Encyclopaedic Handbook. Omnigraphics, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-55888-348-2.
  6. 6.0 6.1 BBC Religions (2009), Vaisakhi and the Khalsa
  7. Harjinder Singh. Vaisakhi. Akaal Publishers. p. 2.
  8. 8.0 8.1 K.R. Gupta; Amita Gupta (2006). Concise Encyclopaedia of India. Atlantic Publishers. p. 998. ISBN 978-81-269-0639-0.
  9. Bodiwala, Suresh (18 November 2017). "Sikh Religious Society Organizes Two -day Conference in Chicago to Implement Mool Nanakshahi Calendar". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017.
  10. Harbans Singh (1 January 1998). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: S-Z. Publications Bureau. ISBN 978-81-7380-530-1.
  11. Cath Senker (2007). My Sikh Year. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4042-3733-9., At Vaisakhi, Sikhs remember how their community, the Khalsa, first began."
  12. Knut A. Jacobsen (2008). South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora. Routledge. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-134-07459-4., Quote: "Vaisakhi is also a Hindu festival, but for the Sikhs, it celebrates the foundation of the Khalsa in 1699."
  13. Christian Roy (2005). Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 479–480. ISBN 978-1-57607-089-5.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 S. R. Bakshi, Sita Ram Sharma, S. Gajnani (1998) Parkash Singh Badal: Chief Minister of Punjab. APH Publishing pages 208–209
  15. William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
  16. Seiple, Chris (2013). The Routledge handbook of religion and security. New York: Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-415-66744-9.
  17. Pashaura Singh and Louis Fenech (2014). The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 236–237. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  18. Harkirat S. Hansra (2007). Liberty at Stake, Sikhs: the Most Visible. iUniverse. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-595-43222-6.
  19. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism Archived 8 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, section Sāhib Siṅgh Bedī, Bābā (1756–1834).
  20. Jonathan H. X. Lee; Kathleen M. Nadeau (2011). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1012–1013. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5.