KUALA LUMPUR: More than 1,000 people are expected at the Vaisakhi celebration at the Gurdwara Sahib Sentul tomorrow after the Malaysian Sikh community ushered in the new year today.
Gurdwara Sahib Sentul secretary Harpal Singh said Vaisakhi is celebrated by Sikhs worldwide to mark the birth of the Khalsa which is the order of the last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
"This order among others includes the practice of using the name Singh for men and Kaur for women. It was after this Guru, that all Sikhs either had Singh or Kaur in their names, depending on the gender. This order has been followed through generations after generations.
"Every year the celebration will fall on the same date, April 13, and thousands of Sikhs will gather at the nearest Gurdwara to pray and celebrate the occasion all around the world. Sikhism is a religion of 'seva' where they are encouraged to do service beyond self," Harpal said.
He said the prayers to usher in Vaisakhi started a day earlier and ends a day after, making it an elaborate event.
When contacted, he said the Vaisakhi celebration is normally celebrated over a three-day period which started yesterday evening and will end tomorrow after 48-hours of reciting the holy scriptures of the Guru Granth Sahib.
"The Guru Granth Sahib is a living soul to the Sikh community and is our highest order."
On the preparation for the celebration, he said all the prayers practiced at the temple are the same as practiced at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.
"The Holy book is the primary scripture of the Sikh community and it has 1,430 pages which would take about 48 hours to complete the entire recital. During this three-days celebration, we normally would have a few priests taking turns reciting the scriptures, on an hourly basis.
"The celebration will be concluded with the special Ardas Prayers after the ceremony to replace the flag known as the Nishan Sahib Selami early in the morning. If you were to notice, there is a yellow flag at each Gurdwara Sahib and it is only taken down and replaced on two special occasions, during the birth of Khalsa, which is now and the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji celebration in November.
"Nishan Sahib Selami is a ritual where the religious flag is showered with milk and other items such as water before it is prayed upon and raised on the flag pole again."
Harpal said throughout these three days, Sikhs are given free vegetarian meals that are prepared at the temple.
"In conjunction with the Vaisakhi celebration, we have also organised a few other activities for the devotees including a Sikh martial art (gatka) performance, health and nutrition talks, yoga lessons, singing spiritual songs and a blood donation drive too," he said.