Vaisakhi Celebrations

todd from EarthDiverse

EarthDiverse today celebrates the occasion of the important festival of Vaisakhi, which marks the first day of the Indian month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated throughout the Indian Subcontinent and in diaspora communities everywhere, as a celebration of spring harvest, primarily in Northern India. It is celebrated by both Sikhs and Hindus.
For Sikhs, in addition to its significance as the harvest festival, kirtans are sung and Gurdwaras are visited. Many hold community fairs, kirtan processions, raise the Nishan Sahib flag, and gather to socialise and share festive foods. Vaisakhi also observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region. Vaisakhi marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru in 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 Bengal Army officer Reginald Dyer orders his troops to shoot into a protesting crowd, an event which would come to be known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This incident proved influential to the history of the Indian independence movement.
For Hindus, Vaisakhi also marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh, celebrating the Spring harvest. Some also consider Vaisakhi to be the date for the Indian Solar New Year, while others consider the previous month of Chet as the date for the New Year.