Best of Baisakhi festival celebrations and decorations for your home – Find out the story of Baisakhi, the rituals and traditions for your place.
It’s Baisakhi time!! You know Baisakhi is the most celebrated festival for the people of Punjab, but do you know why? People of Punjab and Haryana celebrate this harvest festival with great joy and honour. Also known as Vaisakhi, this festival marks the harvest of Rabi crops. The celebration also marks the Punjabi New Year, and the Punjabis believe that this festival brings good fortune.
Baisakhi for you
Celebrated in the month of Vaisakha of the Hindu calendar, this festival marks the beginning of the new spring year. It falls on the 13th or 14th of April every year.
Punjab is an agricultural state in India. Baisakhi festival is the best time to harvest their crops and celebrate prosperity. So Baisakhi holds great importance for the farmers. The Sikh community grandly observes this festival in a cheerful and friendly atmosphere. You can find Vaisakhi celebration rituals below.
Image sourced from Wikipedia
The festival of Vaisakhi is welcomed with great enthusiasm. Along with being the harvest day for Punjabis, this day also holds great value as it is the birth anniversary of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. It was on this auspicious day, in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh laid the foundation of Khalsa Panth. You can read the complete story below.
The festival of crop harvest is celebrated with fabulous fairs and festivties, here is a short summary of the rituals:
– Dip in holy waters
– Visit Gurudwara to offer prayers during Ardas Kirtan
– Recieve Kadha Prasad after the Kirtan prayers
– Enjoy Langar food ceremony
– Decorate your home in bright colours
– Get together with friends and family for festivities of food and dance
Story of Baisakhi
The story of this festival begins with the martyrdom of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur. The Aurungzeb, the Mughal ruler, beheaded him. Aurungzeb wanted to conquer India, and destroy Hindu communities and hence killed Guru Teg Bahadur. Later Guru Gobind Singh, the son of late Guru Teg Bahadur took over the throne and became the Guru of Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh, transformed the Sikhs into a family of soldier saints (Khalsa Panth), on this holy occasion of Baisakhi.
Baisakhi celebrations
Baisakhi festival brings more fun for holidays with people celebrating it in open fields. All the villages of Punjab set up lively entertainment stages for dancing and singing. People dressed in glamorous colourful traditional outfits perform traditional folk dance ‘Bhangra’ and ‘Gidda’. Dancing on the dhol makes you feel fantastic and lively in this beautiful season of crops. There are huge fairs with a lot of playful games, eatables and other stalls in all the villages across Punjab and Haryana.
Vaisakhi Rituals
The entire Sikh community celebrates Baisakhi with great devotion following divine rituals. You can see Baisakhi being celebrated in a very grand manner at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Many people strive to visit the Golden Temple on this special day. Here is a list of the festivities:
- People rise early morning to take a dip in holy rivers
- Next, the entire community visits the nearest Gurudwara. There is an exceptional performance of the unique “Ardas of Kirtans” in Gurudwaras. –After completing the special prayers “Kada prasad” is distributed to the devotees.
- Later the volunteers; also called “Kar Sevaks”, serve “the langars” to the people sitting in a row, as a form of prasad.
Baisakhi at home
Baisakhi is celebrated by the Sikh community, living in India and those settled abroad too. You too can celebrate the Baisakhi festival with some of the ideas below:
Flower garlands
Flower garlands form an essential part of decoration when it comes to festivals observed in agricultural states like Punjab and Haryana. In these states where you get colourful flowers of marigold and a few others, which helps to add on to the grace of decoration of home for Baisakhi.
Colourful curtains
Decorate your home with curtains. You can choose curtains that represent the holy Sikh religion – mainly shades of yellow, red, orange. These colours form the beautiful combination giving a glamorous look to the rooms’ interior and exterior of the buildings too.
Rangoli designs
For an even more vibrant decoration, big rangolis are a fantastic choice for front of your home. These colourful rangolis give a warm welcome to the guests.
Festive lights
Add some festive music and decorative lights to build up a stylish celebration vibe.
Why celebrate Baisakhi?
Although it is a festival for farmers, Sikhs and Punjabis, this is also the time to celebrate the annual crop harvest. Yes, the crop harvesting process is a vital milestone for the food we consume year-round. Food harvest is the reason Baisakhi festival gains respect from all communities. Also, since it is the start of the new season this festival wins more attraction and is considered more special among Sikhs. Not only the state of Punjab but other states people also celebrate this festival with their traditions and rituals – and now it’s your turn to join in too. On this occasion, you can meet your near and dear ones and exchange gifts, thereby creating a strong bonding between the families and friends circle. Vaisakhi is one of the most adorable Indian festivals, so do add some decorations to your home and enjoy the festive vibe. Happy Baisakhi to you!