Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi (Sanskrit: [ʋɐi̯ɕaːkʰiː]), also known as Baisakhi (IPA: [bɛːsaːkʰiː]) or Mesadi or Basoa (IPA: [meːsaːɖiː]), marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April or 14 April. It is seen as a spring harvest celebration primarily in Punjab and Northern India. While it is culturally significant in many parts of India as a festival of harvest, Vaisakhi is also the date for the Indian Solar New Year. However, Sikhs celebrate the new year on the first the month Chet, according to the Nanakshahi calendar. Historically, Vaisakhi was one of the major annual market occasions in northern India. Although Vaisakhi began as a grain harvest festival for Hindus and its observance predates the creation of Sikhism, it gained historical association with the Sikhs following the inauguration of the Khalsa. The celebration coincides with various regional, traditional New Year celebrations in the Indian subcontinent. For Sikhs, in addition to its significance as the harvest festival, during which Sikhs hold kirtans, visit local gurdwaras, community fairs, hold nagar kirtan processions, raise the Nishan Sahib flag, and gather to socialize and share festive foods, Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region. Vaisakhi as a major Sikh festival marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, on 13 April 1699. Later, Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire on 12 April 1801 (to coincide with Vaisakhi), creating a unified political state. Vaisakhi was also the day when British Indian Army officer Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to shoot into a protesting crowd in Amritsar, an event which would come to be known the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; the massacre proved influential to the history of...