|
Garma
Garam More |
Heritage |
|
|
Baisakhi Baisakhi, celebrated with joyous music and dancing, is New Year's Day in Punjab. It falls on April 13, though once in 36 years it occurs on 14th April. It was on this day that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa (the Sikh brotherhood) in 1699. The Sikhs, therefore, celebrate this festival as a collective birthday.
Processions are taken out, at the head of which are the panj piaras. Mock duels and bands playing religious tunes are part of the processions. Schoolchildren also enthusiatically take part in them. For people in villages this festival is a last opportunity for relaxing before they start harvesting of corn. Processions and feasting follow readings of the holy scripture of the Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib. It is a day of celebration,
particularly in the rural farming areas where the farmer
rejoices at the sight of the fruits of his labour - the
harvested crop. After 6 to 8 months of hard toil in the
fields, this is the day any farmer would look forward to.
REGIONAL CELEBRATIONS Baisakhi day is observed as the Naba Barsha (New Year) in Bengal. On April 14, the people take a ritual bath in the River Ganga or any other river or a nearby tank and decorate their houses with rangoli (floral patterns) drawn at the entrance of their homes with a paste made of rice powder. In Assam, this is the day for the Rongali Bihu, which is a chance for the young people of the state to dress up in their traditional finery and dance the night away. There too, this is the harvest festival, which allows the farmers to relax and enjoy before they take up the task of harvesting their crop. Baisakhi festival is celebrated twice a year in Himachal Pradesh in the honor of Goddess Jwalamukhi. In the months of Vaishakha (April-May) and Kartika (November), the Himachalis worship the Goddess whose image near a hot spring issues forth flames. In the South, Baisakhi is celebrated to mark the Tamil and Telugu New Year. In a ceremonial march, people take out wooden chariots in a procession. The temples in Kerala celebrate Pooram festivals usually in honor of Vishnu at this time. Among them, the Pooram observed in the Vaddakunathan Swamy (Shiva) temple of Trichur is famous. The state of Bihar state celebrates a festival in Vaishakha (April) and Kartika (November) in honor of the Sun God, Surya, at a place called Surajpur-Baragaon. This is essentially a village where, according to an ancient practice, people bathe in the temple tank and pay obeisance to the Sun God while offering flowers and water from the sacred river Ganga. PLACES TO VISIT Though most of the states celebrate this time of the year, to witness the rich tradition and colorful festivities of Baisakhi, Punjab is the place to be. The traditional bhangra and gidda, the procession of the Panj Piaras and the taste of the kada prasad can be experienced only in Punjab.
|
