Considered an auspicious occasion for marriages, the festival of Baisakhi is basically the harvest festival of northern India. The name of the festival is derived from the first month of the Hindu/Vikram calender, i.e. “Vaishakh”. Devotees take ritual dips in the holy rivers and welcome the new year with full warmth. It has a special significance for the Sikhs, as their tenth Guru, Gobind Singhji formed the Khalsa sect on the same day in 1699. Listening to Kirtans, offering prayers in Gurudwaras (worship place for the Sikhs), holding Langar (common kitchen) and watching Bhangra (traditional Sikh/Punjabi dance) are the major attractions of this festival.
