|
Coventry Sikhs mark Vaisakhi with
huge parade
WSN Network
COVENTRY:
Thousands of Sikhs took to the streets of
Coventry
on April 26 to mark one of the most significant events in their
calendar – their new year festival of Vaisakhi.
Brightly
coloured floats and about 8,000 people formed a procession to
celebrate the day, which marks the founding of the Sikh brotherhood
– the Khalsa.
The 310th year
of Sikhism was celebrated with a ceremony starting at the city’s
Guru Nanak Parkash Gurdwara Sikh gurdwara in
Harnall Lane
West.
Thousands of
people congregated outside to watch as the Guru Grath Sahib was
carried out of the Gurdwara and placed into a vehicle, decorated
with bright flowers, to lead the Nagar Kirtan through the city.
A ceremony was
then held to celebrate the Beloved Five, who form the basis of the
Sikh baptism ceremony, after being baptised into the Khalsa – which
means the Pure Ones – by the tenth guru in 1699.
Thousands
watched as prayers were said and hundreds of orange and blue
balloons, the traditional colours of the harvest and the Sikh flag,
were released.
Baljinder Kaur
Sandhu, press officer for Coventry Nagar Kirtan, said: “We are
delighted with how many people turned up for the celebrations."
29
April 2009
|
Read Also