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On this memorable Baisakhi
day (March,30 of A.D.1699) , Guru Gobind
Singh Sahib called a big meeting at
Kesgarh Sahib near the City of Anandpur
Sahib. Between fifty to eighty thousand
Sikhs attended this meeting. When all
were expecting to hear words of comfort
and consolation from the lips of their
Guru, they were perturbed to see him
with a drawn sword in his hand and cried
' Is there anyone here who would lay
down his life for Dharam?' There was
a big silence, but the Guru went on
repeating his demand. At the third call
Daya Ram, a Khatri of Lahore, rose from
his seat and offered himself. The Guru
took him into an adjoining enclosure....(and
soon after) came out with the (blood)
dripping....(sword in hand) and flourshing
it before the gathering, asked again,
'Is there any other Sikh here who will
offer himself as a sacrifice(for the
cause of dharma)? At this Daram Das,
a Jat of Delhi (Haryana side) came forward
and was taken into the enclosure....(The
Guru again came out with the blood-stained
sword, and made his previous demand).
In the same way three other men stood
up, one after another, and offered themselves
for the sacrifice. One was Mohkam Chand,
a washerman of Dwarka (Gujarat State);
another was Himmat, a cook of Jagannath
(Orissa State); and the third was Sahib
Chand, a barber of Bidar (Karnataka
State). The Guru, after dressing the
five in handsome clothes, brought them
from the assembly.
These five were then administered 'Khande
di Pahul' (the double-edged Sword Amrit).
They were then knighted as Singhs, as
the Five beloved ones, the first members
of the Order of the Khalsa. The Guru
then asked them to administer the Pahul
to him in the same manner in which he
had given the Pahul to them, and it
was done so.
With the creation of Khalsa, the Khalsa
created history and since the birth
of Khalsa, the history of Punjab has
been the history of Sikhs. Baisakhi
played a significant role in this regard.
In 1762, Ahmed Shah Abdali, with the
sole purpose to destroy the entire Sikh
nation, declared 'Jehad'(holy-war) against
the Sikhs and all the Muslims of the
Punjab rallied under this slogan. The
Sikhs were surrounded near the village
Kup in Ludhiana District. Chronicles
mention that about twenty thousand Sikhs
were martyred in a single day. This
event is known in the history of the
Sikhs as "Ghallughara" (Bloody
Carnage). After this, Ahmed Shah Abdali
thought that he had crushed the entire
Sikh nation, but was greatly disillusioned
when after a few months heard that the
Sikhs in large number are celebrating
Baisakhi at Amritsar. In due course
of time Baisakhi reminds every Sikh
of his cultural and religious heritage.
On Baisakhi day all the Sikhs used to
assemble at Amritsar and decide their
problems relating to politics and religion.
This convention still goes on.
The celebrations of Baisakhi are similar
to the three-day schedule of the the
celebrations of other Gurpurabs. It
is generally celebrated on 13th April
every year.
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