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| April 16, 2012 | US Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi, dedicated to Ghadar Movement centenary | |
Stockton (USA): Thousands of Sikhs from across the United States took part in a religious procession as part of the harvest festival celebrations in Stockton, California on Sunday.
The procession comprised of a huge truck, which was turned into a chariot to carry
the Guru Granth Sahib. In the procession, also called the Nagar Kirtan, people
were dressed in traditional attire and acrobats performed various stunts, including
the Gatka (style of stick fighting, with wooden sticks intended to simulate swords).
Devotees said the procession was organised to celebrate100 years of the gurudwara
in Stockton and was also dedicated to the "Ghadar Movement" which was started
from here to free India from the clutches of Britishers. "This Gurudwara holds
historical significance, Gadri Baba (Gadri Baba Mangu Ram Muggowalia), who established
the Gurdwara in 1912, he also fought for the freedom struggle of India . The 100
years of the Gurdwara would be celebrated in October and the celebrations will
continue for a year. This procession is also being taken out to celebrate 100
years of this Gurdwara. In October 2012 a big programme would be organised on
the east and the west coast. The final programme is dedicated to the Gadri Baba,"
said Hardeep Singh, a Sikh devotee. He informed that the century celebrations
would be observe on October 14 this year. Sikh men and women sang devotional songs
as they walked in the procession and went around the city. Devotees believed that
it was important to undertake such processions as it would make the new generation
aware about their culture and tradition. "Such procession will spread knowledge
and the new generation will become aware about the Sikh culture and traditions.
The political and religious leaders, participating in the procession, express
their views about the Sikh religion, and the new generation comes to know about
the roots of the Sikh culture," said Kuljeet Singh, another Sikh devotee. Before
the procession, various Sikh leaders addressed a gathering inside the Gurudwara
hall. The Sikh religion, the fifth largest religion in the world, was founded
by Guru Nanak (1469-1539 A.D.) who was succeeded by nine other Sikh Gurus, with
Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708 A.D.) being the last. There are more than 20 million
followers of the Sikh religion across the world. Sikhs form only about two percent
of the Indian population. However, the Sikhs made their presence felt in Canada
, UK , USA , Western Europe and Australia as they migrated since the early nineteenth
century.
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