Baisakhi Customs and Traditions

Baisakhi is celebrated with energy and verve during the harvest season in mid April every year. It is a festival of the Sikh community of India and across the world. Although the term Baisakhi comes from Vaisakhi which has been derived from the word Vaishakh, a month of the Hindu calender. Indians of other regions and cultures too celebrate a harvest festival but they call it Vaisakhi. The basis of the two occasions, though, differs. Here are the various traditions and customs of Baisakhi.

Gurdwara Rituals
People of Sikh faith wake up early in the morning on Baisakhi day and visit gurdwaras to attend special prayer meetings. At the gurdwara, Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs is taken out ceremoniously and given a bath with milk and water and placed on its throne. The book is then read out to the followers gathered in the gurdwara.

After chanting of the sacred verses, amrit or holy nectar is prepared in an iron vessel and distributed amongst all gathered. Devotees sip amrit five times with a vow to work for the brotherhood, the Khalsa Panth, after which kirtans are sung by the people gathered.

At noon, after the Baisakhi ardas, the Karah Prasad or sweetened semolina is offered to the guru for his blessings. It is then distributed to the congregation. The ceremony culminates with a special guru-ka-langar or the community lunch.

Baisakhi Processions
Processions are held in which Guru Granth Sahib is taken out in a procession. At the head of the procession are the Panj Piaras (symbolize the journey made by the five fearless devotees from their homes to Anandpur, to be baptised by Guru Gobind Singh). The procession moves through the city to be welcomed by citizens and members of social and cultural societies. Colourful bhangra and gidda dance and mock duels are performed during Baisakhi processions.

Men wear the headgear (bana) of Guru Nanak and also of Guru Gobind Singh. In their discourse at the end of the ceremony, Sikh religious leaders express the need to promote charity by people of all ages.

Other Festivities
"Jatta aai Baisakhi". Baisakhi is New Year’s for the large farming community of Punjab and Haryana. It is also the time to harvest the rabi crop. Buying and wearing new clothes, singing and dancing to festive tunes are all a part of Baisakhi celebrations. In rural areas of Punjab, Baisakhi fairs are organised where many recreational activities are held among which wrestling bouts are a major attraction.

Baisakhi – The Harvest Festival – An Introduction

Baisakhi or Vaisakhi is an ancient harvest festival, a Sikh religious festival of Punjab.

Punjab here refers to the region that is defined by five waters or rivers and falls in India and Pakistan. These five waters are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. Here Punjab refers to a cultural demarcation, the reference to Punjab is not geographical.

The term Vaisakhi is a direct association with the Vaishakha period of April and May. This festival falls on the first day of the Baisakh month of the solar Nanakshahi calender which correlates to April 14 of the Gregorian calender.

Baisakhi is, foremost, a celebration of the Sikh new year. One of the most important Sikh holidays, this festival also commemorates laying the foundation of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699 by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Other Variations of The Festival
India, being an agrarian society has many parallel festive occasions with a similar basis. So, Baisakhi is celebrated as the beginning of a new solar year not only in Punjab but in many other places of India (with similar or different names) like Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal and in Nepal too. The Baisakhi festival also finds many regional variations in other Indian states namely Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and across the borders as well (Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

Baisakhi Festival

Baisakhi is on 13th April 2009, Monday

Baisakhi is one of the major festivals of Sikhs and is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm and gaiety in the state of Punjab and all throughout the world where there is a significant Sikh population.

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.

People of Punjab celebrate the festival of Baisakhi with exuberance and devotion. As the festival has tremendous importance in Sikh religion, major activities of the day are organized in Gurdwaras. People wake up early to prepare for the day. Many also take bath in the holy river to mark the auspicious occasion. At the end of the Baisakhi ardas, congregates receive specially prepared Kara prasad or sweetened semolina.