happy Vaisakhi to everyone to! but it aint until next week lol...sunday (yesterday) was the march to mark the special occassion
for those that dont know...its basically the Sikh new year...and the reason its so sacred for sikhs;
Vaisakhi is a long established harvest festival in the Punjab. It had been celebrated long before it gained an added dimension for Sikhs.
In 1699 the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, chose Vaisakhi as the occasion to transform the Sikhs into a family of soldier saints, known as the Khalsa Panth.
Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in front of thousands at Anandpur Sahib.
During the Vaisakhi festival 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.
The men were then baptised into the Khalsa by the Guru. He sprinkled them with Amrit ('immortalising nectar': the Sikh term for holy water) and said prayers. This is the basis of the Sikh baptism ceremony.
quick pic i found...probably not even a quarter of the amount of people!
bassboy