FESTIVALS IN PUNJAB

Basant Panchami

The festival of spring is celebrated in Punjab as the colourful festival of Basant Panchami. ‘Basant’ in Punjabi is

a mustard color which is also linked with the crop ‘Mustard’. This festival is celebrated on the fifth day of lunar

month of Magh.A golden sea of mustard flowers flourishes the fields of Punjab which act as perfect scene for

Basant Panchami. During this festival Punjabi people use to dress in bright yellow,signifying themselves

as mustard blooms. This festival has the major importance in culture of Punjab and is also known as kite festival.

People use to fly kites to celebrate this festival and one can see the  entire sky full of colourful and liberating kites.

Festivals in Punjab: Basant Panchami

Hola Mohalla

Hola Mohalla is one of the religious festivals in Punjab which is a three-day festival. This festival is celebrated at

takht Sri Anandpur Sahib and got its initiation in 1700s by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Thousands of Sikhs get

together to celebrate this festival, as it has a cultural importance for them. This festival takes place on the

second day of the lunar month of Chett, a day after the Hindu spring festival Holi is celebrated but sometimes

coincides with Holi. this festival is of huge importance to the sikh people and is celebrated with huge enthusiasm

and with religious belief.The event terminates on the day of Hola Mohalla with  military-style parade near

Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib (one of the five seats of temporal authority of the Sikhs).

Festivals in Punjab: Hola Mohalla

Baisakhi

Baisakhi is one of the historically significant festival in culture of Punjab. The day is celebrated as the tribute to

the martyr, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji.It is usually celebrated on 13th or 14th of  April every year .The festival is

also known as harvest festival for the winter crop, rabi. It has been observed as the major events in Sikhism.

The significance of Baisakhi celebration marks the birth of Sikh order when Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji refused to

convert to Islam religion under the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. This prompted the inauguration

of the tenth Guru of Sikhism and the historic establishment of Khalsa, both on the Vaisakhi day. It was the day

of Vaisakhi when colonial British empire officials committed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on a gathering,

an event organized for the Indian movement against colonial rule.

Due the historical importance of the festival in Sikhism, all over Punjab, various fairs and processions

are held, where everyone celebrate the festival with zest and zeal. The entire state is lit up in the celebration

of Baisakhi, producing enthusiasm among people. People dress up in beautiful cultural dresses and perform the

cultural dances and recite folk songs. This festival has huge importance in culture of Punjab.  

Festivals in Punjab: Baisakhi

Gurpurab

The most important festival in the Sikh community, the Gurpurabs are a symbols of holiness, spirituality and jubilance

for the Sikhs. It is a composition of the word purab (or parva in Sanskrit), meaning a festival or celebration, lead

by the word guru. Gurpurab in sikh religion is celebrated as the birth anniversaries of sikh Guru’s which are marked

as festivals. Gurpurabs are a mixture of the religious and the festive, the devotional and the spectacular,

the personal and the communal participations.Over the years a standardized pattern is followed, but this pattern

has no special virtue, and local groups may invent their own variations.

During these celebrations, the Guru Granth Sahib is read through, in private homes and in the gurdwaras,

in a single continuous ceremony lasting in about 48 hours. This religious event, called Akhand Path, must be without

interruption that ensures no breaks within.

Special assemblies are held in gurdwaras and discourses given on the lives and teachings of the gurus which

are recited by the Ragi’s or Dhadi Jatha. Sikhs march in processions through towns and cities reciting the

holy hymns. Special langars, or community meals, are gripped for the participants. The open Langars are

clasped

even on the roads by the people which is served to every passer by which signifies their devotion to

the god as they believe “God resides in the hearts of every human”.  

Festivals in Punjab: Gurupurab

 Teeyan(Teej)

A lively and one of the most amused cultural festival of Punjab, mostly for women, Teeyan is celebrated in the

blooming season of spring. This festival is also known as “Teej”. This festival is dedicated to the onset of the

monsoon and focuses on daughters and sisters. The traditional folk dance of Punjab, Gidda is performed

during this festival, by the women,which is a magnificent sight to behold.The festival is celebrated during the

monsoon season from the third day of the lunar month of Sawan till the full moon of Sawan, by women.

Married women visit their maternal houses to participate in the festivities. They use to celebrate this festival with

their friends with whom they used to play in their childhood. In the past, it was tradition for women to spend the

whole month of Sawan with their parents.

Women gather up somewhere under the lap of nature where there are bundle of trees and tie swings to the trees

and use to swing in them. Girls dress themselves in proper Punjabi traditional dresses and recites the Punjabi

folk songs. The eve gets the momentum in the teeyan Gidha. This festival is of major importance in culture of Punjab.

The festival is closed by the women performing the closing dance called 'bhallho'. Bhallo is performed by

the women standing in two rows. Nowadays, this tradition of women getting together in villages in lost somewhere

in this hectic life.

Festivals in Punjab: Teeyan

Maghi

Maghi is the annual festival which involves gathering of the Sikhs. It is celebrated at the district of the Punjab,

Sri Muktsar Sahib, in the memory of forty Sikh martyrs (Chalis Mukte), who once had left the tenth and last

Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur Sahib, but later felt downhearted and rejoined the Guru and

died while fighting the Mughal Empire army led by Wazir Khan in 1705. The gurudwara “Tuti Gandi sahib” is

situated in the district Sri Muktsar Sahib that was built in remembrance of the patch up between the 40 martyrs

and the Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

At this day,

Sikhs make a journey to the site of this Sikh-Muslim war, and take a dip in the sacred water tanks, Sarovar of Muktsar.

A fair (mela) is held at Muktsar Sahib every year called the Mela Maghi in the month of Magh(January)

is held in memory of the forty Sikh martyrs. Huge amount of Langars are mounted for the Shardhalu’s

that have travelled from so far to visit the gurdwara. Maghi is one of the religious

festivals in Punjab which celebrated by the people of Punjab with

zest and zeal. Sri Muktsar Sahib is one of the best places in Punjab to visit during this festival.

Festivals in Punjab: Maghi