Sikhs commemorate Baisakhi
Sikh communities around Fiji are celebrating the three day Baisakhi celebration which comes to an end today.
Baisakhi marks the first day of the month of Baisakh traditionally celebrated on the thirteenth or fourteenth of April.
It synchronises with the celebration of spring harvest while in many parts of India, it is also the date of the Indian solar new year. A small portion of Sikhs gathered at the Samabula Gurdwara in Suva on Thursday, April 11 and raised jhanda (Sikh flag) and began the celebrations.
The bhajis (priests) performed the prayer and sang traditional folk songs to mark the occasion.
Maya Dhaba owner Harminder Singh said Baisakhi is culturally linked to the harvesting of the crops.
Mr Singh said farmers celebrate an intimate connection with their land, with which they share a deep bond.
“It is a means of sustenance, and farmers have a reciprocal relationship with their land and harvesting of wheat which produces flour. “When the farmers reap the harvest, they offer gratitude and pray for prosperity and abundance for their family and community.
“Since we do not do wheat farming in Fiji, to commemorate the occasion, Sikhs pay their obeisance in Gurdwaras, partaking in the sacramental karha prashad and langar (community kitchen),” he said. The festival of Baisakhi carries forward the robust resilient spirit and vitality of Punjabiyat. Baisakhi is of tremendous cultural, religious, social and spiritual significance at myriad levels.
Baisakhi history
Baisakhi holds special significance for the Sikhs, historically it marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs on April 13, 1699. During that time Punjab reeled under religious persecution and tyranny of the Mughal rule.
After the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur for refusing to convert to Islam under the order of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh became the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.
He initiated the formation of the new order of the Khalsa (meaning pure) at Takht Keshgarh Sahib on Vaisakhi by baptising the five punj pyaras (volunteers) with the sacred nectar.
He asked them to partake amrit (nectar) from the same bowl to em
phasise egalitarianism and lack of discrimination of the new religion on the basis of caste, creed and gender.
The baptised were given the title
of ‘Singhs’ or ‘lions’.
They had to adorn the five Ks that are kesh, kangha, kacha, kada, kirpan on their person.
The inclusive and pluralistic philosophy of the Khalsa order urged them to be valiant selfless warriors.