Today (13/04/2024) marks Vaisakhi, one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar. Vaisakhi, also pronounced Baisakhi, is a spring festival that celebrates the year when Sikhism was born as a faith in 1699.
Prior to 1699 Vaisakhi had been a harvest festival in Punjab, however in 1699 Guru Gobind Singh chose this festival as the moment to establish the Khalsa, which is the name given to Sikhs who have been baptised. At the festival the tenth guru emerged from a tent carrying a sword and asked anyone who was prepared to give their life for their faith to step forward.
Five men stepped forward and were taken into the tent this worried the crowds at the festival, however the five men then emerged from the tent wearing turbans. These men are known as the as Panj Piare or the 'Beloved Five' and were the first members of the Khalsa. The Guru baptised the men with the Sikh holy water and this ritual became the basis of the Sikh baptism ceremony. Vaisakhi is also celebrated in Hinduism, as it commemorates the start of the Solar new year.
Vaisakhi is celebrated by religious services at the Gurdwara, singing, dancing, food and family. British Online Archives would like to wish all those celebrating a very happy Vaisakhi.