Hindu Festival Baisakhi or Vaisakhi is the festival that is observed on the first day of the first month of the Gregorian or Solar calendar. The Hindu people commemorate this feast with plenty of enthusiasm with residents of cities and villages hanging multi-colored flags. Hindus particularly in the State of Punjab carry out Baisakhi traditions with genuine religious fervor.
The Sikh Community celebrates it as the birth of the 10th Sikh Guru and founding of the Khalsa Panth or worldwide society of Sikhs. On this day, principal activities of the festival focus on the Sikh temple of worship. As a feast of harvest, men and women of Punjab dance the Bhangra and Gidda energetically in open fields.
Baisakhi Ceremonies
Sikhs normally wake up very early during the Baisakhi feast day and visit the Gurdwaras sanctuary for prayer meetings. However, majority of them try to visit the venerated Golden Temple (Anandpur Sahib) where the Khalsa was proclaimed. Otherwise, they just go to the neighborhood Gurdwara. In this holy place, the Sikhs holy book (Guru Granth Sahib) is brought out ceremoniously and given a symbolic bath with water and milk. It is put on the throne carefully and read out to followers who congregate in the temple.
Procession
Later in the day, the Guru Granth Sahib is taken around for a procession led by the Panj Pyare or Five Beloved Men. The ritual symbolizes the journey of the five courageous devotees from their abodes to Anandpur where ach one baptized by the spiritual master and philosopher Guru Gobind Singh. Adults and children attend these processions with much faith and eagerness. The Baisakhi procession goes around major areas of the city and greeted by members of social and cultural groups.
The celebration is accompanied by bands and drummers as well as devotees singing and chanting religious hymns. Sikh clergymen talk at the end of the ceremony to encourage charity among the people particularly children to honor the Guru Gobind Singh. Sikh women who go to the Gurdwaras wear white apparel known as the Salwar Kameez with an orange headgear (Dupatta) to cover their heads.
On the other hand, men follow a similar color pattern in their wardrobe. However, men don orange turbans instead of the Dupatta. Hindus also use heavy embellishments such as the Maang Tika (hair jewelry in India), necklaces, earrings, and bangles. Most of these accessories come in gold. Aside from songs and dances, stalls are set up at the Baisakhi Mela which showcase traditional costumes, handicrafts, embroideries (Phulkari stitching), and other collections.