Sikhs celebrate Vaisakhi and Khalsa Day
Monday, 14 April 2008
On April 14, Australian Sikhs will celebrate Khalsa Day, amid the celebrations for the New Year harvest festival of Vaisakhi.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, Laurie Ferguson, extended his best wishes to the Sikh community today.
'I sincerely wish all those celebrating Vaisakhi and Khalsa Day an enjoyable and happy celebration,' Mr Ferguson said.
Vaisakhi is traditionally a harvest festival which marks the beginning of a new solar year and harvest season.
Khalsa Day falls on the first day of the Vaisakh month, April 14, and commemorates the baptism in 1699 of five brave Sikhs who offered to give their lives for their faith.
These five men became the first 'Khalsas' or 'beloved ones', who would be the embodiment of the 10th and last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, carrying on the leadership of the Sikh faith into the future.
The celebrations are marked by the giving of flowers and offerings at guwurdas (Sikh places of worship) and also by processions through towns.
Mr Ferguson said the Sikh community has a long history in Australia, with the first Sikhs arriving in the first half of the 19th century. At that time, most worked in northern NSW as farm labourers and some later came to Australia as cameleers in central Australia.
'The Sikh community has contributed significantly to the development of the Australian way of life that we all enjoy today,' the parliamentary secretary said.
'I hope that Australian Sikhs enjoy the Vaisakhi and Khalsa Day celebrations,' Mr Ferguson added.
Media contact: Khaldoun Hajaj - 0404 078 692
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/parlsec/media/media-releases/2008/lf08024.htm
Last update: 13 August 2008 at 17:14 AEST