Apr 13, 2004, 12.00am IST
Pranav Khullar.
The traditional festivals of the Indian diaspora all reflect the ancient concept of the Utsav Mela, which encouraged everyone to congregate, meet and mix amid festivity and pageantry. In fact, the word 'mela' is derived from the word 'mil', meaning to meet.
Baisakhi epitomises the mela notion of convergence for it brings together people of all castes and communities on the first day of Vaisakha, the beginning of the traditional Indian New Year. Basically a harvest festival , Baisakhi marks the ripening of the Rabi harvest, especially in the Punjab. It is called the Naba Barsha celebrations in Bengal, Rongali Bihu in Assam, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Pooram (Vishu) in Kerala.
The Baisakhi mela is, at its simplest, a time to rise above prejudices and join in the unique celebration of life. It embodies, at a deeper level, the concept of cyclical regeneration as in all harvest festivals. Dressed in tahmids , and exotic headgear, menfolk dance the Bhangra and women, the Gidda, both axiomatic of the vitality and energy of the people of Punjab. The traditional love-ballads, poetry symposiums and traditional sports all create an ambience of unrestrained joy and ebullience.
Baisakhi is also inextricably linked with the Sikh tradition. It was on the auspicious day of Baisakhi in 1699 that Guru Gobind Singh instituted the Khalsa Panth at Keshgarh Sahib near Anandpur. Discontinuing with the Sikh tradition of physical gurus, he endowed the Sikhs with a unique identity by declaring that the venerated holy scripture, the Granth Sahib, will be the future guru of the Sikh faith.
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