KokoLove at 16:12, 14 February 2021

2021-02-14T16:12:24Z

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{{short description|Major spring time Sikh festival, harvest and traditional new year festival for many Hindus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{infobox holiday
| holiday_name = Vaisakhi
| image = Handsworth Vaisakhi.jpg
| caption = Vaisakhi celebrations by Sikhs
| nickname = Vaisakh(few people also call this festival as baisakhi)
| observedby = Hindus and Sikhs
| observances = Prayers, [[procession]]s, raising of the [[Nishan Sahib]] flag, Fairs,dancing in the farms etc.
| celebrations = Fairs, Ritual Bathing, Amrit Sanchaar (baptism) for new Khalsa, Parades and Nagar Kirtan
| type = Hindu, Sikh
|longtype = religious, cultural
|date2018 = Sat, 14 April
|date2019 = Sun, 14 April<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.india.gov.in/calendar/calendar.php?date=2019-04 |title=April 2019 Official Central Government Holiday Calendar |access-date=17 December 2017 |publisher = Government of India}}</ref>
|date2020 = Mon, 13 April<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.india.gov.in/calendar/calendar.php?date=2020-04 |title=April 2020 Official Central Government Holiday Calendar |access-date=17 December 2017 |publisher = Government of India}}</ref>
| significance = Hindu Solar New Year,<ref name="ColeSambhi1995p63"/> Harvest festival, birth of the [[Khalsa]], Punjabi new year
|startedby=|firsttime=|frequency=|duration=|scheduling=|alt=|weekday=|date=|ends=|begins=|litcolor=|official_name=
|relatedto = [[South and Southeast Asian solar New Year]]
}}

'''Vaisakhi''' ([[IAST]]: {{IAST|vaisākhī}}), also pronounced as '''Baisakhi''' marks the beginning of [[Hindus|Hindu]] solar New year.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMPYnfS_R90C&q=Vaisakhi+hindu&pg=PA139|title=Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice|last2=Rinehart|first2=Robert|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-905-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kelly|first=Aidan A.|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=wBcbAAAAYAAJ&q=Baisakhi+hindu&dq=Baisakhi+hindu&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwid9OG3z6XuAhUSxTgGHYfyB4g4FBDoATAIegQIABAC|title=Religious Holidays and Calendars: An Encyclopaedic Handbook|last2=Dresser|first2=Peter D.|last3=Ross|first3=Linda M.|date=1993|publisher=Omnigraphics, Incorporated|isbn=978-1-55888-348-2|language=en}}</ref> 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 [[Indian people|Indians]].<ref name="bbcv2">BBC Religions (2009), [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/holydays/vaisakhi.shtml Vaisakhi and the Khalsa]</ref>

Vaisakhi is also a historical and religious festival in [[Hinduism]] and [[Sikhism]]. It is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year.<ref>{{cite book|author=Harjinder Singh|title=Vaisakhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCReCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2|publisher=Akaal Publishers|page=2}}</ref><ref name="Gupta2006p998">{{cite book|author1=K.R. Gupta|author2=Amita Gupta|title=Concise Encyclopaedia of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dNOT9iYxcMC&pg=PA998 |year=2006|publisher=Atlantic Publishers|isbn=978-81-269-0639-0|page=998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/community/chi-ugc-article-sikh-religious-society-organizes-two-day-con-2017-11-18-story.html|title=Sikh Religious Society Organizes Two -day Conference in Chicago to Implement Mool Nanakshahi Calendar|last=Bodiwala|first=Suresh|date=November 18, 2017|work=Chicago Tribune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120024123/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/community/chi-ugc-article-sikh-religious-society-organizes-two-day-con-2017-11-18-story.html|archive-date=November 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Singh1998">{{cite book|author=Harbans Singh|title=The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: S-Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhXYAAAAMAAJ&q=nanakshahi+and+khalsa+calendars|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Publications Bureau|isbn=978-81-7380-530-1}}</ref><ref name="senker10">{{cite book|author=Cath Senker|title=My Sikh Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsQozVTKW44C&pg=PA10|year=2007|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4042-3733-9|page=10}}, At Vaisakhi, Sikhs remember how their community, the Khalsa, first began."</ref><ref name="ColeSambhi1995p63" /><ref name="bbcv2"/><ref name="Jacobsen2008p192">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC&pg=PA192|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora|author=Knut A. Jacobsen|publisher=Routledge|year=2008|isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|page=192}}, '''Quote:''' "Vaisakhi is also a Hindu festival, but for the Sikhs, it celebrates the foundation of the Khalsa in 1699."</ref>

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.<ref name="Roy2005p479">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKqOUfqt4cIC&pg=PA479|title=Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia|author=Christian Roy|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2005|isbn=978-1-57607-089-5|pages=479–480}}</ref>

For Sikhs, Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the [[Indian subcontinent]] that happened in the [[Punjab region]].<ref name=bakshi208/><ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |year=1995|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|pages=135–136}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Seiple 2013 96">{{cite book | last=Seiple | first=Chris | title=The Routledge handbook of religion and security | publisher=Routledge | location=New York | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-415-66744-9 | page=96}}</ref><ref name="pashaura236">{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh and Louis Fenech | title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Oxford, UK | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 | pages=236–237}}</ref><ref name="Harkirat S. Hansra 2007 28–29">{{cite book|author=Harkirat S. Hansra|title=Liberty at Stake, Sikhs: the Most Visible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDlMUfGiEO8C&pg=PA28 |year=2007|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-43222-6 |pages=28–29}}</ref> [[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|Guru Nanak dev]], conducted the coronation.<ref>[http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508213214/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ |date=8 May 2014 }}, section ''Sāhib Siṅgh Bedī, Bābā (1756–1834)''.</ref> 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.<ref name=bakshi208>S. R. Bakshi, Sita Ram Sharma, S. Gajnani (1998) Parkash Singh Badal: Chief Minister of Punjab. APH Publishing [https://books.google.com/books?id=cyebnJdCFlEC&pg=PA208 pages 208–209]</ref>

On Vaisakhi, Gurdwaras and Mandirs are decorated. Sikhs hold [[kirtan]]s, visit local Gurdwaras, community fairs and ''nagar kirtan'' processions are held, and people gather to socialize and share festive foods.<ref name="Gupta2006p998"/><ref name=bakshi208/><ref name="LeeNadeau2011p1012">{{cite book|author1=Jonathan H. X. Lee|author2=Kathleen M. Nadeau|title=Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BrfLWdeISoC&pg=PA1012 |year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35066-5|pages=1012–1013}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Baisakhi - Revision history

KokoLove at 16:12, 14 February 2021