Vaisakhi

What is Vaisakhi?

Vaisakhi is an ancient Sikh harvest festival marking the beginning of a new year and new harvest season. It is one of the most significant holidays in the Sikh calendar.

Celebrated on either the 13th or 14th of April each year, Vaisakhi is a time dedicated to community spirit and forward-thinking as well as practising spiritual and physical integration. 

Depending on a person’s dialect, Vaisakhi can also be spelt as Baisakhi.

History of Vaisakhi

Due to its close connection with the foundations of Sikhism, Vaisakhi forms a very important role in the Sikh yearly calendar. 

Long-established as a new-year Harvest festival, the Sikh focus of Vaisakhi commemorates the establishment of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. 

The Guru had used the celebration to create the Khalsa (the collective term for Sikhs who have been baptised) after, as tradition tells it, he had invited five ardent followers of the faith into a tent, ostensibly for a sword battle. 

Despite emerging from the tent with a bloody sword, all of the men involved came out unharmed. These men became the ‘Panj Piare’, or the holy Five.

They were then baptised with a sprinkling of holy water - a ceremony that is reflected in modern Sikh baptisms.

How is Vaisakhi celebrated?

When Vaisakhi comes around, one of the favourite activities that Sikhs like to partake in is to visit a Gurdwara: a place of assembly for Sikh’s, to spend time practising their faith.

Celebrations are most notably held on the streets, which are colourfully decorated and feature marches and processions. Scriptures are read aloud and chants are sung in the process.

Where is Vaisakhi celebrated?

The main centres of celebration for Vaisakhi are in the Punjab region of India. This is especially true in the city of Anandpur Sahib, where the Khalsa was first originated.

However, Sikhism is a global religion, and Vaisakhi celebrations are held wherever Sikhs’s reside all over the world. 

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