Vaisakhi

The story behind the day

Vaisakhi, also written Baisakhi, falls on or near 13 April, the day that opens the solar month of Vaiśākha. In north India it is a spring harvest festival. For Sikhs it is the birthday of the Khalsa, the community that Guru Gobind Singh brought into being at Anandpur at the Baisakhi gathering of 1699. Sikhs mark the day with hymns and readings in the gurdwara, and many receive amrit, the initiation into the Khalsa. This calendar counts it from the Sun's entry into sidereal Aries (Meṣa).^[1–7]

Origins

The day is older than the Khalsa. It is a Hindu spring festival, the day that opens the solar month Vaiśākha, kept in north India as a spring harvest festival with fairs, dances and folk songs. In the Punjab it is a seasonal festival as well, held when the solar month of Baisākh begins, and a ritual dance once preceded the festivities to keep spirits that harm the harvest away. Congregational fairs are held at the larger centres.^{[2–3, 8]}

How it is kept

Sikhs everywhere commemorate the day with an unbroken reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, the akhaṇḍ pāṭh, and with hymn singing in gurdwaras. Amrit initiation ceremonies are held, and new initiates often receive amrit on the day. The most important venues are the Golden Temple at Amritsar, Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo and Takht Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur. Hindus, for their part, keep the day as a spring harvest festival with fairs, dances and folk songs.^{[2, 6–7, 13]}