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Baisakhi is also known as Vaisakh Sankranti and is celebrated as the new year of the Punjabis. It is celebrated every year to welcome the spring and new harvest season. According to the solar Hindu calendar, Vaisakh Sankranti will be celebrated on Thursday, 14 April, this year.
Punjabis celebrate Baisakhi with great pomp and show, performing folk dance and singing the Punjabi songs. They also visit their friends and family on this occasion.
This festival marks hope and people welcome the new harvest season with open arms believing that the year will be immensely beneficial for the crops and farmers.
The festival of Baisakhi has its own significance among the Punjabis. In the year 1699, the 10th Sikh Guru laid down the foundation of Panth Khalsa- the order of the pure ones. He also baptised the Sikh warriors to defend their religion, religious rights, and freedom.
The festival is celebrated since the inception of the 1756 Bikrami (March 30, 1699), also known as Khalsa.
On the occasion of Baisakhi, Sikh processions are organised wherein the Sikhs move around the streets and chant the texts from their holy book- Guru Granth Sahib. The procession is led by the five Sikh men representing the 'panj pyaare'.
In northern India, farmers celebrate it as a harvest festival. They harvest the rabi crop, thank God, and ask for a prosperous future for the crop. Fairs, events, and traditional functions are organised where people perform the traditional dance and sing folk songs. This day also celebrates the bravery and vigour of the people who died in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
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