about sikhism

Sikh Festivals in India - Sikhism is one of the important religions in India and there are many festivals celebrated by Sikh/Punjabi community. Most of the Sikh festivals are events to commensurate the birth and teachings of 10 gurus of Sikhs and their teachings. The birthdays of all Gurus especially the first and last Sikh Guru is celebrated on a grand level. The other festivals that hold significant importance in Sikh festival calendar are Baisakhi, Hola Mohalla and Diwali. Sikhs practice worshipping an omnipresent divine power. They rather venerate their Gurus, various milestones achieved by the gurus and their teachings. Some of the Hindu festivals like Diwali are also celebrated by the Sikhs but with a completely different reason and philosophy.

guruparb in sikhism

It is commemorated by the Sikh community all over the world.
The birth anniversaries of all ten Sikh gurus are commemorated in Gurpurabs, although Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh are the most important.
Other significant Gurpurabs commemorate the Mughal martyrdoms of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur, who died in the service of the Sikh doctrine.
On the occasion of Guru Nanak's birthday, the Sikh community celebrates Guru Nanak Jayanti.
On this day, all Gurudwaras have special services and langar is distributed to the public.
All of the Gurpurabs are reasons to rejoice and remember the Lord.
As a result, Akhand Path is held, and people sing Prabhat Pheris or congregational singing of praise hymns to the Lord.
The celebrations come to a close with the Guru Granth Sahib being carried in a procession on a decked floral float, led in the front by five-armed guards waving Sikh flags (Nishan Sahibs).
These five men are Guru Gobind Singh's representatives of the Panj Pyare, or 'five adored men.

guru nanak dev ji

maghi

maghi Festivals

Maghi is the occassion when Sikhs commemorate the sacrifice of forty Sikhs, who fought for Guru Gobindh Singh Ji. Maghi, Makara Sankranti, the first day of the month of Magh. The eve of Maghi is the common Indian festival of Lohri when bonfires are lit in Hindu homes to greet the birth of sons in the families and alms are distributed. In the morning, people go out for an early-hour dip in nearby tanks. For Sikhs, Maghi means primarily the festival at Muktsar, a district town of the Punjab, in commemoration of the heroic fight of the Chali Mukte, literally, the Forty Liberated Ones, who laid down their lives warding off an attack by an imperial army marching in pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh. The action took place near a pool of water, Khidrane di Dhab, on 29 December 1705. The bodies were cremated the following day, the first of Magh (hence the name of the festival), which now falls usually on the 13th of January. Following the custom of the Sikhs to observe their anniversaries of happy and tragic events alike, Maghi is celebrated with end-to-end recital of the Guru Granth Sahib and religious divans in almost all gurdwaras.

Baisakhi festival

Baisakhi is New Year’s Day in Punjab. It falls on the month of Vaisakh. This festival marks the ripening of the Rabi harvest. The day The tenth guru Guru Govind Singh selected the auspicious day of Baisakhi to form the order of the Khalsa. On the13th of April in 1699, at a meeting in Anandpur in Punjab, the guru called upon his people to come forward to sacrifice themselves for the good of the clan. Initially there were no response from the audience. However, after several calls from the guru five persons- Daya Ram Khatri, Dharm Das, Mokhan Chand, Sahib Chand and Himmat Rai –were ready to offer themselves. Guru took each of them to the tent nearby and every time he returned alone with his bloodied sword. Then the guru went to the tent yet again, this time for a long time. He reappeared followed by the five men, clad in saffron-colored garments. They sat on the dais while the guru prepared water to bless them. In an iron vessel, he stirred the batasha that his wife, Mata Jitoji had put into water, with a sword called Khanda Sahib.The water was now considered the sacred nectar of immortality called amrita. It was first given to the five volunteers, then drunk by the guru and later distributed to the crowd. All present, irrespective of caste or creed, became members of the Khalsa Pantha. Those five men were christened the Panch Pyare. He discontinued the tradition of gurus and asked all Sikhs to accept the Grantha Sahib as their eternal guide. The suffix Singh derived from the Sanskrit word singha meaning ‘lion’, was added to the name of all male Sikhs, while the women were to call themselves Kaur, assistants to the Singh.

baisakhi

holla mohalla fastival

Holla Mohalla is a Sikh festival celebrated in the month of Phalguna , a day after Holi.An annual festival held at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, Hola Mohalla was started by the tenth Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, as a gathering of Sikhs for military exercises and mock battles on the day following the festival of Holi. It reminds the people of valour and defence preparedness, concepts dear to the Tenth Guru who was at that time battling the Mughal empire. On this three-day festival mock battles are held followed by music and poetry competitions. The Nihang Singhs (members of the Sikh army that was founded by Guru Govind Singh) carry on the martial tradition with mock battles and displays of swordsmanship and horse riding. They perform daring feats, such as Gatka (mock encounters), tent pegging, bareback horse-riding and standing erect on two speeding horses. There are also a number of durbars where Sri Guru Granth Sahib is present and kirtan and religious lectures take place. Sporting shining swords, long spears, conical turbans, the Nihangs present a fierce picture as they gallop past on horseback spraying colors on people.On the last day a long procession, led by Panj Pyaras, starts from Takth Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five Sikh religious seats, and passes through various important gurdwaras like Qila Anandgarh, Lohgarh Sahib, Mata Jitoji and terminates at the Takth.

Bandi chorrh divas (diwali)

Guru Hargobind being released from the Gwalior Jail along with 52 Rajas, who held the strings attached to the dress of the Guru, hence the Guru was called Bandi Chhod. The Sikh celebration of the return of the sixth Nanak from detention in the Gwalior Fort coincides with Hindu festival of Diwali. This coincidence has resulted in similarity of celebration amongst Sikhs and Hindus. The Sikhs celebrate this day as Bandi Chhorh Divas i.e., "the day of release of detainees", because the sixth Nanak had agreed to his release on the condition that the other fifty-two detainees would also be released. These other fifty-two detainees were the vassal kings who had done something to annoy the emperor. The story of Divali for the Sikhs is a story of the Sikh struggle for freedom. From the time of Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539), the founder of Sikhism, popular seasonal or folk festivals like the harvest festival of Vaisakhi, or ancient mythological festivals like Holi and Divali, or worship rituals like Aarti, began to take on a new significance for the Guru’s students, the Sikhs. The Guru used these festivals and special days e.g. first day of each lunar month, as symbols or pegs for his teaching themes. And so the Sikhs were slowly diverted from darkness of superstitious ritualism based on fear and ignorance to an enlightened ideology based on reason and belief in One Creator. The enlightened ideology of Guru Nanak gave new significance to ancient festivals like Divali and Vaisakhi

bandi chorrh divas (diwali)

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