Baisakhi
Several Indian
festivals coincide with the harvest time and Baisakhi is one
of them. Baisakhi is celebrated by the people of Punjab with
vigor and joy. It is celebrated by different names and with
different rituals almost all over India, when the Rabi crop is
ready for harvesting. Baisakhi is also the day when the tenth
Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa Panth
over three hundred years ago. The Vaishakha period of April
and May is filled with festivals of fun, frolic and
merry-making and Baisakhi, derived from the word Vaishakh,
falls in this auspicious period. Based on the Indian solar
calendar, this festival falls on April 13 every year and on
April 14 once every 36 years. Other festivals celebrating the
harvest are Bihu in Assam, Pongal in South India.
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