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As some Sikh texts record, Guru Nanak Dev Sahib Ji (1469-1539) was born during the month of
Baisakh. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahima Prakash, Part 2, Guru Amar Das Ji (1479-1574),
at the suggestion of Sikhs led by Bhai Paro, started an annual congregational fair at Goindval on the occasion of
Baisakhi.
It became customary for distant sangats of Sikhs to assemble at the seat of the Gurus on every Baisakhi (and
Divali) day. With the inauguration by Guru Gobind Singh Ji of the Khalsa on 1 Baisakh 1756
Bk, Baisakhi 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 Bikrami years since then, Baisakhi now usually falls on 13
and sometimes on 14 April.
The Sikhs everywhere celebrate Baisakhi enthusiastically as birthday anniversary of the
Khalsa. Akhand patths are recited followed by kirtan and ardas in almost every
gurdwara. Community meals form part of the celebrations. At bigger centres congregational fairs,
amrit-prachar, i. e. initiation ceremonies for inducting novitiates into the Khalsa fold, and contests in manly sports are held.
Until the partition of the Punjab in 1947, the largest attended Baisakhi fairs were those of Panja Sahib and
Eminabad, in Gujranwala (now both in Pakistan). The most important venues now are the Sri Darbar Sahib,
Amritsar, Takht Damdama Sahib at Talvandi Sabo, in Bathinda district, and Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, in Ropar district, all in the Punjab.
It was at Kesgarh Fort that conversion of Sikhs into the Khalsa through the administration of khande di
pahul, or baptism of the double-edged sword, first took place on the Baisakhi day of 1699.
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