Vaisakhi, also known as Baisakhi,[9] marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April.[10][3][11] It is seen as a spring harvest celebration primarily in Punjab and Northern India.[12][13][14][15][2] Whilst it is culturally significant as a festival of harvest, in many parts of India, Vaisakhi is also the date for the Indian Solar New Year.[16][17][18]
For Sikhs, in addition to its significance as the harvest festival,[4] during which Sikhs hold kirtans, visit local gurdwaras, community fairs, hold nagar kirtan processions, raise the Nishan Sahib flag, and gather to socialize and share festive foods,[3][19][20] Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region.[19][21] Vaisakhi as a major Sikh festival marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, on 13 April 1699.[22][23][24] Later, Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire on 12 April 1801 (to coincide with Vaisakhi), creating a unified political state.[25]
Vaisakhi was also the day when Bengal Army officer Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to shoot into a protesting crowd in Amritsar, an event which would come to be known the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; the massacre proved influential to the history of the Indian independence movement.
Manjit
