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The festival of harvests- Baisakhi

The festival of harvests- Baisakhi

Very less of us might be knowing that Vaisakhi is also known as Baisakhi and is celebrated and is a historical and religious festival in Sikhism and Hinduism. It is usually celebrated on April 13 or 14 every year. This year Baishaki is on 13th April.

Vaisakhi marks the Sikh new year and commemorates the formation of Khalsa panth of warriors under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. It is additionally a spring harvest festival for the Sikhs. Vaisakhi is also an ancient festival of Hindus, marking the Solar New Year and also celebrating the spring harvest. It marks the sacredness of rivers in Hindu culture, it is regionally known by many names, but celebrated in broadly similar ways.

Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region. 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. Vaisakhi was also the day when colonial British empire officials committed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on a gathering, an event influential to the Indian movement against colonial rule.

On Vaisakhi, Gurdwaras are decorated and hold kirtans, Sikhs visit and bathe in lakes or rivers before visiting local Gurdwaras, community fairs and nagar kirtan processions are held, and people gather to socialize and share festive foods. For many Hindus, the festival is their traditional solar new year, a harvest festival, an occasion to bathe in sacred rivers such as Ganges, Jhelum and Kaveri, visit temples, meet friends and party over festive foods. This festival in Hinduism is known by various regional names.

The first day of Vaisakh marks the traditional solar new year and it is an ancient festival that predates the founding of Sikhism. The harvest is complete and crops ready to sell, representing a time of plenty for the farmers. Fairs and special thanksgiving pujas (prayers) are common in the Hindu tradition.

The first day of Vaisakh marks the solar new year.It is the New Year’s Day for Hindus in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and other parts of India.However, this is not the universal new year for all Hindus. For some, such as those in and near Gujarat, the new year festivities coincide with the five day Diwali festival.For others, the new year falls on Ugadi, Gudi Padwa and Cheti Chand, which falls a few weeks earlier.

Happy Baisakhi everyone lots of love ??

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Vaisakhi is a harvest festival for people of the Punjab region.In the Punjab, Vaisakhi marks the ripening of the Rabi harvest.Vaisakhi also marks the Punjabi new year.This day is observed as a thanksgiving day by farmers whereby farmers pay their tribute, thanking God for the abundant harvest and also praying for future prosperity.The harvest festival is celebrated by Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus. Historically, during the early 20th century, Vaisakhi was a sacred day for Sikhs and Hindus and a secular festival for all Muslims and non-Muslims including Punjabi Christians.In modern times, sometimes Christians participate in Baisakhi celebrations along with Sikhs and Hindus.

Many celebrities Tweet on all the auspicious festival. They have done the same on this festival too:

 

 

 

We wish all our readers a very Happy Baisakhi!!

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Priyanka sarangi

Journalist by profession, music lover by passion. Love to write and edit content on different topics of entertainment beat. Love to travel but only with my favorite people.

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