India celebrates Sikh festival Baisakhi

NEW DELHI. April 13. KAZINFORM India Monday celebrated the Sikh festival Baisakhi, the day that marks beginning of harvest crops.

The festival has religious significance as it was on a Baisakhi Day in 1699, that Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, laid the foundation of Panth Khalsa -- the Order of the Pure Ones, according to the Sikh religion. Explaining the celebrations on the phone from north Indian city Chandigarh, a Sikh lady Kuldeep Kaur said "nagar keertan", or holy processions, and "vishaal deewan" , or mass congregations, were being held by Sikhs in all small and big towns and cities across the country. People woke up early and bathed in holy rivers, before going to Gurdwaras, the Sikh temples, where Gurbani Keertans or the holy prayers were recited by the ragis, or religious preachers. Kara prasad or sweetened semolina was then served to the congregation. A Guru-Ka-Langar, or the free community lunch, was served to all devotees in gurdwaras after prayer services. In several villages of north Indian state Punjab, which is home to majority of Sikh population, Baisakhi Fairs were also organized, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.