Sikhs around the world celebrate Vaisakhi on April 14. So what’s all the excitement about?

On Vaisakhi in 1699, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh

1. Created Amrit Sanchaar, the initiation or “baptism” ceremony
2. Declared the 5 kakkars or symbols of faith that make up the Sikh identity
3. Kneeled before the Five Beloved (the first 5 initiated Sikhs), and underwent the Amrit Saanchar Ceremony himself
4. Declared that the next Guru would not be a person, but the teachings of the scripture contained in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred text

The occasion was a “capstone” event that completed the Sikh Faith, which began 230 years earlier in 1469 with the birth of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Sikhs celebrate by wearing bright saffron orange and blue (the “team colors” of the Sikh religion), and rededicating themselves to the Sikh mission of helping anyone in need. Many Sikhs also undergo the Amrit Sanchaar or initiation ceremony.

Now I’m a software guy, so I guess you could say that Sikhism was in “beta” for the years from 1469-1699, and that Vaisakhi marks the “release.” The release included an initiation program (Amrit Sanchaar), an operating system (Sikhi itself), and the source code (the poetic teachings contained in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib). The Khalsa (the community of baptized Sikhs) is the hardware upon which all this awesome software runs, but there are some minimum hardware requirements specified by the 5K’s. Anyway, I’m running off to gurdwara now, so read a more ‘down-to-earth’ interpretation of Vaisakhi after the jump.
(more…)

Hey, check out this nice flyer for the Mela at Sikh Sabha on May 3. I’ll be there teaching kids how to juggle. (Not kidding).