Baisakhi

Baisakhi is one of the most famous festivals of India and Punjab especially celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs combined. It gets celebrated on 14^th of April every year.

Sikhs celebrate this festival because 14^th of April marks Sikh’s new year and moreover 14^th of April commemorates the formation of Khalsa Panth.

Farmers also celebrate this festival because 14^th of April also gets celebrated as the great harvesting day. On this day rabi harvests get ripened, and farmers thank god for the growth of their crops.

Why do we celebrate Baisakhi?

There are a number of reasons to celebrate Baisakhi, and most of them are available below:

• The biggest reason to celebrate Baisakhi festival is that on this specific day, Rabi crop gets ripenedand farmers get a reason to smile. Farmers believe that growth in their crops is due to the blessings of almighty and that is why farmers arrange various prayer programs on this specific day.
• Another reason to celebrate Baisakhi is to memorize the great formation of Khalsa Panth. Guru Gobind Singh Ji on 14^th of April 1699 made the formation of Khalsa Panth which changed the life of Sikhs completely, and after this day, Sikhs tend to have their own existence in the world.
• As the Khalsa Panth got started on 14^th of April, all the people belonging to Khalsa Panth believe that their new year has started. So, on this very day, Sikh’s New Year takes place which gets celebrated with a huge joy by Sikh religion.
• This festival gets celebrated with different names throughout the country for example – it gets celebrated as Bikhu in Uttarakhand, Rongali Bihu in Assam, Ugadi in Karnataka and Telangana, Vishu in Kerala, etc.

How do we celebrate Baisakhi?

There are a number of ways by which Baisakhi festival gets celebrated in India:

• Various kinds of traditional dresses get worn by the people who reflect the culture and tradition of Punjab.
• Various kinds of prayer programs get organized at various places in the country in which all the people thank almighty for making them happy and blessing them with great crops.
• Various kinds of folk dances and folk music festivals and events get organized at various places in Punjab, and a lot of places arrange fairs at which people enjoy a lot of roundabouts, traditional dishes, and get to see huge gatherings of people.
• During nights, people get out of their houses and gather at a single place which most of the times is a playground near people’s houses. In this ground, people sit around a bonfire and talk about their lives and enjoy various kinds of games.

So, this is how Baisakhi festival gets celebrated.

Traditional dishes to eat on Baisakhi  –

Though people eat a lot of traditional dishes on this marvelous day, but there are four of them which get eaten in almost every house:

• Kadhi Chawal – In this traditional dish, one gets to enjoy traditional white rice, with a specific yellow curry made with special India Masalas. It is a dish which gets enjoyed by each and every person on this day.
• Jalebis – During evenings, people buy lots of Jalebis which is a sweet dish specifically made in India only.
• Halwa – This is another sweet dish which gets made in lots of varieties. Some of the people enjoy Halwa made of sugar; others love Halwa made of jaggery. But one point is for sure that everyone will love this amazing sweet dish.
• Cholle Bhature – This is a traditional Indian breakfast which serves Chickpeas and Bhature which are made by frying tortillas made of Maida.

All in all, Baisakhi is a perfect festival which has no religious barriers, and it can get celebrated by people from all around the country. During Baisakhi, one will definitely notice a point that all the people would be having a great smile on their faces.