Vaisakhi (IAST: Template:IAST), also pronounced as Baisakhi marks the beginning of Hindu solar New year.[1][2] 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.[3]
Vaisakhi is also a historical and religious festival in Hinduism and Sikhism. It is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year.[4][5][6][7][8][9][3][10]
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.[11]
For Sikhs, Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region.[12][13] 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.[14][15][16] 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.[17] 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.[12]
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.[5][12][18]
References
- ↑ Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. ABC-CLIO(2004). ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8
- ↑ Religious Holidays and Calendars: An Encyclopaedic Handbook{{#if:Kelly|, Kelly}. Omnigraphics, Incorporated(1993). ISBN 978-1-55888-348-2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 BBC Religions (2009), Vaisakhi and the Khalsa
- ↑ Vaisakhi{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Akaal Publishers
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Concise Encyclopaedia of India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Atlantic Publishers(2006). ISBN 978-81-269-0639-0
- ↑ Sikh Religious Society Organizes Two -day Conference in Chicago to Implement Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. Chicago Tribune(November 18, 2017).
- ↑ The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: S-Z{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Publications Bureau(1 January 1998). ISBN 978-81-7380-530-1
- ↑ My Sikh Year{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. The Rosen Publishing Group(2007). ISBN 978-1-4042-3733-9, At Vaisakhi, Sikhs remember how their community, the Khalsa, first began."
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedColeSambhi1995p63 - ↑ South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2008). 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."
- ↑ Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. ABC-CLIO(2005). ISBN 978-1-57607-089-5
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 S. R. Bakshi, Sita Ram Sharma, S. Gajnani (1998) Parkash Singh Badal: Chief Minister of Punjab. APH Publishing pages 208–209
- ↑ The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Sussex Academic Press(1995). ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4
- ↑ The Routledge handbook of religion and security{{#if:Seiple|, Seiple}. Routledge(2013). ISBN 978-0-415-66744-9
- ↑ The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(2014). ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8
- ↑ Liberty at Stake, Sikhs: the Most Visible{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. iUniverse(2007). ISBN 978-0-595-43222-6
- ↑ The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism Template:Webarchive, section Sāhib Siṅgh Bedī, Bābā (1756–1834).
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. ABC-CLIO(2011). ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5