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Punjab is a state of seasons and festivals. Numerous festivals and fairs are celebrated in Punjab round the year. The state is famous for its unique and vibrant festivals. Baisaki is one of the major festivals of Punjab. Baisaki is also known as Vaisakhi. It is a harvest festival, which is celebrated in the month of April according to the solar calendar. The festival is celebrated all over in North India, but Punjabi people celebrate this festival with great interest and enthusiasm. The festival is celebrated to mark the harvesting of rabi crops.
The significance behind Baisaki is that the festival highlights the importance of the work and play and relaxation in human life. Apart from that, Baisaki has a special importance for the Sikhs. On the day of Baisaki in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh-the tenth Guru of Sikhs organized the allotment of the Khalsa. A major tragic incident for Punjabis also happened on the same day, when the Mughal emperor Jehangir killed Guru Arjan Das in a display of barbaric cruelty on this day. Again, on the same day in 1875, Swami Dayanand Saraswati started Arya Samaj movement in North India. Thus, Baisaki has a great historic significance in the life of Punjabi people, besides its cultural connotations.
Men and women both celebrate Baisaki with great interest. Women also take part in various dances. Women generally perform the Gidda dance on this occasion. The dance is performed with great zeal and musical accuracy. Men and women decorate themselves with colorful clothes and traditional jewels. Generally, people prefer to organize Baisaki on the banks of the rivers, which have religious importance in Sikhism. The farmers rejoice in the festival with great interest due to the completion of their year’s hard work.
The devotees celebrate the Baisaki with a bathe in holy rivers at the break of dawn. People offer sweets to each other on this day and try to forget old enimities. Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred book of the Sikhs is taken in a parade, led by the Panj Pyaras- five senior Sikhs who are representatives of the original leaders. The occasion is celebrated with great pleasure at Talwandi Sabo. Guru Gobind Singh stayed here for nine months and completed the reorganization of the Guru Granth Sahib. Some of the work was completed in the Golden temple in Amritsar also. On Baisakhi day, water from all the sacred rivers of India is drawn and poured in to the huge tank surrounding the golden temple.
Succinctly, the festival of Baisaki is celebrated all over Punjab with great fervor and devotion. Arrange your Punjab tours during this festival to participate in it.
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