Vaisakhi is a long established harvest festival in the Punjab. It had been celebrated long before it gained an added dimension for Sikhs.In 1699 the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, chose Vaisakhi as the occasion to transform the Sikhs into a family of soldier saints, known as the Khalsa Panth.It marks the beginning of the Sikh new year.

This day is also observed as the beginning of the Hindu solar new year celebrated by the people of Nepal and India in Kerala, Orissa,West Bengal and some other regions of India. The particular significance attached to the occasion shows regional variation outside of Punjab too. In Himachal Pradesh, the Hindu Goddess Jwalamukhi is worshipped on Vaisakhi, while in Bihar, the Sun-god Surya is honoured. The festival is celebrated as Rongali Bihu in Assam, Naba Barsha or Pohela Boishakh in Bengal, Assam and Tripura, Puthandu (Tamil New Year) in Tamil Nadu, Vishu (or Vaishakhi) in Kerala, Maha Vishuba Sankranti (or Pana Sankranti) in Orissa, and the Sinhala and Tamil new year festival in Sri Lanka. Besides Punjab, Baisakhi is widely celebrated as traditional harvest festival in many northern states of India, such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In many places the day is marked by ritualistic bathing in sacred rivers like the Ganges.

Celebrations

To mark the celebrations, devotees,of all religion and region go to their place of worship. The celebrations start early as devotees, with flowers and offerings in their hands, proceed towards the gurdwaras and temples before dawn. Processions through towns are also common. In Sikh Religion, Baisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (The Pure Ones) was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The event was led by the last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptised the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Baisakhi time, Sikhs and Punjabis reflect on the values taught to them by their Gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa.

Pakistan

Baisakhi is widely celebrated in Punjab. It is culturally and traditionally regarded as an important and significant Punjabi festival, and this is further exemplified by the fact when thousands of Sikh pilgrims from India arrive each year to commemorate the day at the sacred Sikh sites of Nankana Sahib and Hasan Abdal in the country. On April 2009, the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee more recently announced official plans for formally organising the event to a larger scale in the country as well as expressing intentions for elegant arrangements.

Punjab, India

The main celebration takes place at Talwandi Sabo (where Guru Gobind Singh stayed for nine months and completed the recompilation of the Guru Granth Sahib), and in the gurdwara at Anandpur Sahib, the birth place of Khalsa and at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Northern America

In the United States, there is usually a parade a few days after Baisakhi. In Manhattan, New York City people come out to do "seva" (religious work) such as giving out free food, and completing any other labor needed to be done. The local Sikh community in Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia, Canada holds its annual Baisakhi celebrations in the April long weekend, which often includes a nagar kirtan, or parade, which an estimated 200,000 people attend.

Surrey Baisakhi Parade in British Columbia, Canada is the largest known parade outside of India, estimate attendance grows 15% year every year and covers an area of several square miles.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

On April 13, 1919 British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children in the Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi day. The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1650 rounds were fired. Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources there were over 1000 deaths, with more than 2000 wounded. Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there were 1,526 casualties.

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