ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BAIS&#256KH&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BAISKH*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BAIS&#256KH&#298, a seasonal festival popular in the Punjab which takes place on the first day of the solar month of Bais&#257kh (Sanskrit Vai&#347&#257kha, so called because according to astrological calculations, the moon at this time passes through <i>vi&#347&#257kh&#257 nak&#7779atra </i> or constellation) of the Indian calendar. Traditionally, the festival was celebrated as the harbinger of happiness and plenty being closely connected with harvesting. To ward off malignant spirits ruinous to the harvest, a ritual dance preceded the festivities. In the central districts of Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257, Si&#257lko&#7789 and Gurd&#257spur as also in parts of Jamm&#363, the popular dance form was, and still is, <i>bha&#7749g&#7771&#257</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As some Sikh texts record, Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) was born during the month of Bais&#257kh. According to Sar&#363p D&#257s Bhall&#257, <i>Mahim&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>, Part 2, Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1479-1574), at the suggestion of Sikhs led by Bh&#257&#299 P&#257ro, started an annual congregational fair at Goindv&#257l on the occasion of Bais&#257kh&#299. It became customary for distant <i>sa&#7749gats</i> of Sikhs to assemble at the seat of the Gur&#363s on every Bais&#257kh&#299 (and D&#299v&#257l&#299) day. With the inauguration by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 on 1 Bais&#257kh 1756 Bk, Bais&#257kh&#299 became an important festival on the Sikh calendar. The date then corresponded with 30 March 1699, but owing to the adoption of Gregorian calendar by the British in 1752 and the difference between the Christian and the Bikr&#257m&#299 years since then, Bais&#257kh&#299 now usually falls on 13 and sometimes on 14 April. The Sikhs everywhere celebrate Bais&#257kh&#299 enthusiastically as birthday anniversary of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. <i>Akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i> are recited followed by <i>k&#299rtan</i> and <i>ard&#257s</i> in almost every <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>. Community meals form part of the celebrations. At bigger centres congregational fairs, <i>amrit-prach&#257r</i>, i. e. initiation ceremonies for inducting novitiates into the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 fold, and contests in manly sports are held. Until the partition of the Punjab in 1947, the largest attended Bais&#257kh&#299 fairs were those of Pañj&#257 S&#257hib, in A&#7789&#7789ock district, and Emin&#257bad, in Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 (now both in Pakistan). The most important venues now are the Golden Temple, Amritsar, Ta<u>kh</u>t Damdam&#257 S&#257hib at Talva&#7751&#7693&#299 S&#257bo, in Ba&#7789hi&#7751&#7693&#257 district, and Ta<u>kh</u>t Kesga&#7771h S&#257hib, Anandpur S&#257hib, in Ropa&#7771 district, all in the Punjab. It was at Kesga&#7771h Fort that conversion of Sikhs into the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 through the administration of <i>kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 p&#257hul</i>, or baptism of the double-edged sword, first took place on the Bais&#257kh&#299 day of 1699.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Kapur Si&#7749gh, <i>P&#257r&#257&#347arapra&#347na</i>. Amritsar, 1989<BR> <li class="C1"> Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi, <i>The Sikhs : Their Religious Beliefs and Practices</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">S. S. Vañj&#257r&#257 Bed&#299<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>