Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi was celebrated across Punjab at harvest time, with dancing and fairs. The Mahima Prakash says Sri Guru Amar Das Ji began a yearly gathering at Goindwal on this day, after Sikhs led by Bhai Paro proposed it. It became customary for distant sangats to come to Guru Ji's seat at Vaisakhi and at Diwali.

Some Sikh texts also place the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the month of Vaisakh, though the birthday is observed in Kartik. The page on Gurpurabs explains this.[EoS][Web]

On 1 Vaisakh 1756 Bikrami, given as 30 March 1699 in the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji held an assembly at Kesgarh in Anandpur. There Guru Ji initiated the Panj Piare with khande di pahul and received amrit from them. The event is described on the page on amrit and the Khalsa.

The SGPC calls the day Khalsa Sajna Diwas. The date differs from today's because, as the Encyclopaedia explains, the Bikrami and Gregorian calendars have drifted apart, and the festival has moved from late March to mid-April.[EoS][EoS][Web]

Akhand paths, kirtan and Ardas take place in gurdwaras, along with community meals. At larger centres, amrit ceremonies, fairs and sporting contests are held. Before the partition of 1947, the largest fairs were at Panja Sahib and Eminabad, both now in Pakistan. The most important centres today are Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar, Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo and Takht Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur.

In the eighteenth century, Vaisakhi was also one of two regular dates for Sikhs to gather at Amritsar and take decisions as the Sarbat Khalsa. The formation of the Dal Khalsa was agreed at Vaisakhi on 29 March 1748.[EoS][EoS]