What is Vaisakhi?
Vaisakhi, also called Baisakhi, is the festival that celebrates the founding of the Sikh community, the Khalsa, in 1699.
On Vaisakhi, Sikhs go to the Gurdwara in the morning for service.
Afterward, they have a procession through the streets with lots of singing, chanting and colourful clothes. The procession is called the Nagar Kirtan.
In the evening, Sikhs have a special meal with family and friends.
Vaisakhi on the Square 2023
This year GL RFCA joined the Defense Sikh Network (DSN) on 22nd April to celebrate Vaisakhi!
Here are a few words by SSgt Manjit Singh Jhajj who was present on the day representing DSN:
Vaisakhi 2023 at Trafalgar Square was a great event that offered DSN and GL RFCA an opportunity to engage with the general public, especially the Sikh community and provided us with the medium to share our Defence Quad service experiences with the public. Additionally, it also helped us celebrate Vaisakhi collectively with our Defence colleagues and the Sikh community.
While engaging with the public attending the event, I was feeling proud as a lot of them mentioned that they were thankful to us for being in the Military and keeping the Sikh warrior tradition alive!
I can call the day successful as we were able to let the public know about Sikhs in the UK Defence and they were amazed by some facts about the history of Sikhs with the UK Military.
Overall this event provided a perfect engagement opportunity to Inform/Attract Sikhs to be part of the UK Defence, which is critical for an underrepresented community by population.
