Vaisakhi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Vaisakhi |
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| Also called | Baisakhi |
| Observed by | Hindus and Sikhs |
| Type | religious, cultural |
| Significance | Hindu Solar New Year Nepalese New Year Punjabi New Year Harvest festival birth of the Khalsa |
| 2020 date | Mon, 13 April |
| 2021 date | Thu, 15 April |
| Celebrations | Fairs, Ritual Bathing, Amrit Sanchaar (baptism) for new Khalsa, Parades and Nagar Kirtan |
| Observances | Prayers, processions, raising of the Nishan Sahib flag, Fairs |
| Related to | South and Southeast Asian solar New Year |
Vaisakhi (Punjabi: ਵਿਸਾਖੀ, Hindi: बैसाखी vaisākhī (also known as Vishu or Baisaki) is an important festival celebrated by Sikhs and Hindus. It is a very big celebration in South Asia and is celebrated around April 13.
Observance
Vaisakhi is the ancient harvest festival in the Punjab region. It is also the start of a new solar year, and new harvest season. Baisakhi is a Sikh religious festival. It falls on the first day of the Baisakh month in the solar calendar, which corresponds to April 13 in the Gregorian calendar. In Sikhism, it remembers the creation of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
This day is also observed as the beginning of the Hindu solar new year celebrated by the people of Nepal and India in Assam Valley, Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal and some other regions of India. There are regional variation outside of Punjab too. In Himachal Pradesh, the Hindu Goddess Jwalamukhi is worshipped on Vaisakhi, while in Bihar, the Sun-god Surya is honoured.
Other observances
The festival is celebrated as
- Rongali Bihu in Assam,
- Naba Barsha or Pohela Boishakh in Bengal and Tripura, *Puthandu (Tamil New Year) in Tamil Nadu,
- Vishu (or Vaishakhi) in Kerala,
- Bikhu or Bikhauti in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand,
- Maha Vishuba Sankranti (or Pana Sankranti) in Orissa, and the
- Sinhalese New Year festival in Sri Lanka.
Calendars
Hinduism and Sikhism have several religious calendars. Some places of worship accept one version and others use a different version. So the festival will always fall on the same day in the western Gregorian calendar.
Images for kids
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Two Sikh men celebrating Vaisakhi by giving away free sugarcane juice.
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Bhangra dance on Vaisakhi is a Sikh tradition
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Celebrating Bohag Bihu in Assam
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Some Indians mark their traditional new year with fireworks
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A Vishukkani tray before Krishna (Vishnu), a Kerala Hindu tradition
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Festive Bihu with Dhuliya is an Assamese Hindu tradition on this day.
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Pohela Boishakh celebrations in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
