Baisakhi

RITUALS
Basically a farmers' festival, Baisakhi is a time to enjoy before beginning the hard work of harvesting and as such, its celebration requires no prayers or fasting. However, people do go to temples after taking a bath in the nearby river.

The Sikhs offer prayers in gurudwaras to commemorate the founding day of their religion. The Granth Sahib, which was designated the eternal guru of Sikhs by Guru Gobind Singh, is taken out in procession and kirtans are organized in gurudwaras.

LEGENDS
Baisakhi has a special meaning for the Sikhs. On this day in 1699, their tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, organized the order of the Khalsa. He discontinued the tradition of Gurus in Sikhism by declaring the Granth Sahib to be the eternal Guru of all Sikhs. To form the Khalsa Panth he asked his followers to volunteer to be ready to lay down their lives to save others. Five volunteers of five different castes were made the Panj Piaras, who would lead the rest.

On this day also, Guru Arjan Dev was martyred by the Muslim rulers who, in barbaric cruelty, threw him alive into a cauldron of boiling oil.

Again, on this day in 1875, Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj-a reformed sect of Hindus who are devoted to the Vedas for spiritual guidance and have discarded idol worship.

This day is of immense religious import to the Buddhists because Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment or Nirvana under the Mahabodhi tree in the town of Gaya on this auspicious day. The day is also known, as Buddha Purnima is some parts of the country.