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With the onset of the Baisakhi Festival, one gets the chance
to reap new crops that simultaneously indicate the arrival
of a new year. The notable time of harvest brings a special
gaiety especially to the farmers of Punjab. The auspicious
month of April instigates Sikhs to honor the bond in which
the revered Guru Gobind Singh tied all the Sikhs together.
The important ritual of 'Amrit Sanchar' in the year 1699,
which doled out the respected title of 'Khalsa' to the baptized
Sikhs is the religious aspect of Sikhs that gets assorted
every year with the festivities of the New Year. Devoted Sikhs
across the world make it a point to join various Sikh parades
that sing the praise of their entire Khalsa community and
add an explicit color to the Vaisakhi Festival. Gurudwaras
seem to be flooded with Sikhs and the mood of unending Baisakhi
celebrations spreads in every nook and corner around them.
According to Hindus, Vaisakhi celebrations bring along Baisakh,
the essential first month initiating the New Year of the Hindu
calendar. To Hindus, Baisakh also consist of the meaningful
spiritual essence that they wait to celebrate in Baisakh.
Apart from Sikhs and Hindus, people from multifarious regions
of India find themselves drenched in the flavor of Baisakhi.
In Himachal Pradesh, one can witness how people participate
to pay obeisance to the Sun god. In Punjab, one can spot enthusiastic
Sikhs rejoicing and dancing to the 'dhol' beats that form
a crucial part of Vaisakhi celebrations. Even in the places
like Canada and Manhattan, one can easily find colossal gatherings
of Sikh people and others who have their religious faiths
imbued in the significance of Baisakhi. People make it a point
to start their festivities with religious 'kirtans'. All of
them get into the groove of Baisakhi and hope to extend these
celebrations to all the days that form the part of the successive
year.
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