The Meaning of Vaisakhi-Birth of Khalsa, the Biggest Sikh Celebration

Every April, Vaisakhi also frequently spelled Baisakhi is celebrated all over the world as a festival of harvest and farmers have celebrated this occasion with community gatherings and festivals.

On the same day 316 years ago, Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666-1708 CE) the tenth of the Sikh prophets established the Khalsa Panth. , the pure supreme Sikh who always takes a stand against injustices and is firm on his morals and beliefs.

Guru chose this day as the day to transform Sikhs into saint soldiers, a family called Khalsa Panth. During this day Guru Gobind Singh came out of a tent carrying a sword. He challenged any Sikh who was prepared to give his life to come into the tent. The Guru returned alone with his sword covered in blood. He then requested another volunteer and repeated the same action four times until five men disappeared into the tent. The crowd was very concerned until they saw five men return wearing turbans with the Guru. These five were called Panj Pyares “Five beloved “. And then they were given the holy nectar “Ambrosia of God's name” which is composed of sugar and water and is stirred with a double-edged sword (Khanda) while prayers are recited.

Then these Five Beloved were instructed to keep the five K's: Kesh (uncut hair), Kangha (a small comb), Karra (an iron bracelet), Kachera (a special short) and Kirpan (a sword).
They were given the title of Khalsa, meaning those whose life and spirit belonged only to the One Universal Creator and not to any ruler, tyrant or even a messenger of the Creator. The principle of One Universal Creator, a founding principle of the Sikh Faith, means that all human beings are children of the same One Creator, and are thus all equal, irrespective of their religion, gender, race, color, caste or the like.

Some people mistake Vaisakhi as the day when Sikhism was formed. Sikhism takes us back to 1469 -1539 CE when the first God’s Prophet Guru Nanak Dev Ji started the process of forming Sikh community nearly two centuries earlier. And from there the community grew substantially under the leadership of his successors over the next 200 years.

In the Sikh spirit, Vaisakhi celebrates the integration of the spiritual and temporal worlds, and it provides practical avenues for bringing these to bear through shared values and practices. Vaisakhi is fundamentally about community, celebration, and progress, and these values are at the forefront of the collective consciousness as Sikhs gather together to mark the occasion.

I am a Sikh, but I believe I am also Christian, Muslim, Hindu, & Buddhist. The reason I am saying this is because I believe that all religions at their core send the same messages. Yes, there might be some differences in our religious practices, but at the end, all religions pray to one, same God. I'm saying all of this because I hope that one day around the world there will be no more conflicts or wars or people targeted because of their religion. We are all equal; we are all under the command of One True God. Let's not judge each other and target each other because of what religion we are affiliated to. A Khalsa is not only a Sikh,but it's anyone who takes a stand against injustices and doesn't let himself or herself be a victim of the dark side of our minds. "Raaj Karega Khalsa". May the true virtues of the Khalsa govern our minds and actions!

KARAMDEEP SINGH

Media Professional

Twitter: @kd_randhawa

Emaiil: kdrandhawa25@gmail.com

Watch it to believe It !! The terrifying Aghori sadhus. Haridwar (Cannib...

---Dargah –Nizzammudin Auliya

In Delhi of many histories a fascinating chapter of Sufism opens at these gates .Wade through the ages of old history around Dargah , these bustled lanes lead us to a famous Shrine known as Dargah Nizzamuudinn Auliya. Stimulating your senses with the magnificent architecture from Tughluq and Mughual eras ….the fragrance of rose petals and attar …hawking caps and religious postures drives  you to a atmosphere of sacred air that prevails inside the Dargah .The dargah of hazrat nizzamuuduin auliya which was built by Muhammad Tughluq.

Story begins at early 1300 centaury when HazratNizzammudin Auliya travelled from Bidayun to Delhi and settled in a deserted town called Gyaspur now named after him.

Dating back to the history, Nizzammudin Auliya was born at Bidayun in 1226 ad in U.P. at his early ages he was interested in the inner life…. …the life related to the spirituality.

His spiritual guide Hazrat Baba Farid said to him “” be like a tree so that Allaha’s creation, the human beings in their vast multitude may find rest and solace under your shadow””.

In islam Sufism achieve the status   of movement which had its origin in central asian countries and found its way to India through the establishment of the various orders or silsials, like chistia’s , naqashbandiua’s and quadriya’s .

The chistia silsila in delhi was brought by Nizzammudin Auliya from its epicentre Ajmer where khawaja moinuddin chisti founded it.

It is believed that for centuries Sufis contributed to music, literature and the far spread of islam .

The chistia saint N.A spread the message of love and devotion. Drawn by faith people flock here in the feeling of oneness, rich or poor rulers or the rule. Till today Nizammudin Auliya is revered, for people come here to have their wishes fulfilled.

Nizzammudi Auliya…… in love, in pathos, in poetry he was the greatest exemplar as many believe that he was the greatest Indo-Muslim saint of all times.

He recited a famous poem in the honour of prophet………

O breeze! turn towards Madinah (and) from this well-wisher recite the Salaam.
Turn to the King of the Prophets (and) with the utmost humility recite the Salaam.
Sometimes pass the gate of mercy (and) with the gate of Gabriel rule the forehead.
Salaam to the Prophet of God (and) sometimes recite Salaam at the gate of peace.
Put with all respect the head of faith on the dust there.

His nature was enhanced by the contribution of his mureed like Amir Khusru whose masar is next to that of the Dargah. Aamir Khusru a multi genious whose work was often inspired by Nizammudin Auliya. The poetry of amir khuru echos the spirit generated by his masters. He composed the poetry from the confluence of Turkish,Persian, Arabic , brajbasha and khariboli.

Before His death on the morning of 3^rd april 1325 Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya‎ collected the speech of his Pir-o-Murshid in a book called Rahatul Quloob. Form this book some of his famous sayings are:

1: The lock of spiritual perfection has many keys. All those keys are to be possessed. If one does not open it, others can.

2: He who has knowledge, reason, and love deserves to become a caliph of the Sufi sheikhs.

Sufism today is an amalgam of the tenets of various rivers of thoughts that merged into the ocean of belief. This ocean of belief is reflected in the saints of 21th century.

Garba- a religious ritual or Entertainment

Where is the party? says Karamdeep following the Dandiya beats.

“Navratri” high on beat, passion and fashion, revolving on jhankar beats is in full swing. The festival of nine nights, which originally pertained to fasts and worship of nine faces of Durga is one of the most popular Gujarati festivals. These nights celebrate the “joy of Garba” and dandiya, popular folk dances of Gujarat.Garbais dear to Guajarati’s because it serves as a worship of the “Goddess”. But these days, not only the Gujaratis but also the non-gujaratis celebrate it for entertainment, a reason for a get together of family and friends. The traditional reasons for celebration of this festival have lost its ground to the vagaries of modern day life.

Indeed,the word Garba is derived from the Sanskrit word “Garbadeep” which means a light inside a pot symbolic of the universe. The Garba tradition revolves around Shakti – Ma or Amba, the mother goddess. It also represents the womb and cleberation of Stri Shakti.

Dandiyas during the Navratri even outside Gujarat draw huge crowd, “Dandiyamasti” one such event held at Delhi HaatPitampurawas sponsored by“Radio OYE 104” and “Delhi AajTak”.The air at Delhi Haat, rang with Bollywood numbers with crowds dancing in circles to the click of dandiyasticks. Traditional Gujarati tracks played sporadically adding to a night of fun and revelry. The stage was perfectly lit with colourful bright lights, and singers.

Being the festival of dance in earlier days, now Garba and Dandiya have become more than traditional dances, they have become party places drawing young and old in large numbers. A young woman in Delhi says, “On one-hand it is worship of goddess and on another it serves as sheer entertainment where people from different communities come together for fun.”

“We try to maintain the ethnicity of festival,” says one of the sponsors present at Delhi Haat. We have been organising these event forthe last seven years at different places and this year we are here at Delhi Haat”.

So is Garbais a festival or a party?