Baisakhi
is celebrated with joyous music and dance, it is Punjab's
New Year's Day. It falls on April 13, though once in 36
years it occurs on April 14th. The Sikhs, therefore, celebrate
this festival as a collective birthday of the tenth Sikh
Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa (the Sikh brotherhood)
in 1699.
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| Sikhs
visits gurdwaras (Sikh temples) and listen to kirtans
(religious songs) and discourses. After the prayer,
kada prasad (sweetened semolina) is served to the
congregation. The function ends with langar, the community
lunch served by volunteers. |
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Processions are taken out, at the head of which are
the panj piaras. Mock duels and bands playing religious
tunes are part of the processions. Schoolchildren
also enthusiatically take part in them.For people
in villages this festival is a last opportunity for
relaxing before they start harvesting of corn.
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Processions and feasting follow readings of the holy
scripture of the Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib.
It is a time for the bumper crops of rice, wheat and
sugarcane are ready to be harvested in the fertile
farms. The hardworking farmers are elated at the yield
of their efforts. The lush fields are full of the
aroma of the sarson (mustard) flowers and the sweetness
of the cane. The rejoicing of this festival linked
to the fertility of the mother earth is to be seen
to believe. Thus arises the greatest festival of the
Punjab called Baisakhi. It holds great significance
because on this day that the Khalsa (Sikh Brotherhood)
was founded by Guru Gobind Singh. |
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