Sikhs ushed in new year with e-Vaisakhi

CORONAVIRUS | Today marks the Sikh New Year, Vaisakhi, and the celebration has been a rather unique one, given that the country is under a movement control order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia president Jasbir Singh said around 120,000 Sikhs in Malaysia celebrated the Vaisakhi festival while still adhering to the rules of social distancing – by celebrating it online.

“This year we celebrated electronically. We call it e-Vaisakhi, and it allows the community to continue enjoying the bliss of kirtan (devotional singing) by ragi jathas (devotional singing groups).

“We also broadcasted Satsang and Akhand Path via Facebook for 48 hours. This is the non-stop recital of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji religious scripture during that period,” he told Bernama when contacted today.

Jasbir said the Sikh or Punjab community in Malaysia also celebrated with their family while enjoying festive meals and used social media platforms to get in touch with other family members and friends.

In addition to being the Sikh new year, Vaisakhi is also a spring harvest festival.

He noted that many NGO’s including SIKHinside are streaming live Satsang via their Facebook page. SIKHinside started broadcasting on March 23 and will continue until tomorrow while Akhand Path started streaming live on April 12.

The president of the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council, Jagir Singh said the Vaisakhi celebration was usually celebrated annually on a grand scale across the country. However, he believed that given the current situation, celebrating with family members at home is just as – if not more –meaningful.

“In the past, we would congregate at the Gurdwaras on Vaisakhi but this year, due to the MCO, we stayed at home and celebrated with our families.

“The elderly ones among us took this opportunity to explain the meaning and significance of the festival to the younger generations and everyone performed their prayers at home,” he said.

For Dasmesh Kaur Jesa Singh, this year’s Vaisakhi celebration felt simple yet meaningful.

“I prayed at home and watched the prayers online. It was a different experience. Tonight, I would get to watch Malaysia’s first locally-produced Punjabi telemovie (Rabba Mereya) on television so I’m excited about that,” she said.

Tomorrow, Tamils will celebrate the Tamil New Year (Chittirai Puttandu) while Malayalees will celebrate the Vishu festival.

- Bernama