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Baisakhi, observed on the 13th (or sometimes 14th) of April every year is one of the main festivals of Sikhs as well as Hindus though the reason for celebration varies to some extent for both these communities. Here is how this day is perceived and celebrated by people belonging to Hindu and Sikh religions.
Baisakhi Significance – For Hindu Community
The day of Baisakhi is said to be the first day of the traditional solar New Year. People from the Hindu community celebrate their New Year on this day by visiting temples, performing prayers, meeting and greeting their friends and relatives, having good food and dressing up in new clothes.
Harvest is complete and ready to be sold around this time and the farmers around the country celebrate the ripening season on this day. Baisakhi is known by different names in different parts of India however the way it is celebrated is almost the same. Here are the names this festival is known by in different Indian states:
Rongali Bihu in Assam
MahaVishuva Sankranti in Odisha
PohelaBoishakh or NabaBarsha in West Bengal and Tripura
Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka
Bisu among the Tulu People
Bikhu or Bikhauti in Kumaon, Uttarakhand
Puthandu in Tamil Nadu
Vishu in Kerala
Some of these are celebrated on the same day as Baisakhi while others are celebrated a day or two after the same.
Baisakhi Significance – For Sikh Community
Contrary to the common notion, Baisakhi is actually a Hindu festival. It is the Sikh guru, Guru Amar Das who chose it for the Sikhs along with other two festivals – Diwali and Makar Sankranti. Just as in Hinduism, Baisakhi marks the beginning of the New Year in Sikhism also and hence it is a day for celebration.
Apart from this, Baisakhi is also celebrated as a harvest festival in Punjab as the Rabi crop ripens around this time in the Punjab region. The farmers thank God for the harvest and also pray for abundance in future.
This day is also special for the Sikhs as it marked the beginning of the Sikh order after the execution of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru TeghBahadur who declined the Mughal Emperor Auangzeb’s order to convert to Islam. This was followed by the coronation of their tenth Guru and the formation of the KhalsaPanth.
Conclusion
Baisakhi is celebrated with great zeal across the country mainly in Punjab where people carry out processions, burst fire crackers, organize feast for their near ones and enjoy the whole day.