The Sikh festival in Lynden honors the birth of the religion

Rain could not stop Sikhs and other community members from Whatcom County and Southern Canada from attending the Vaisakhi Festival in Lynden on Saturday, April 27.

Organized at Guru Nanak Gursikh Gurdwara Sahib, the festival was to celebrate one of the holiest days in the Sikh religion. Vaisakhi marks the formal establishment of the religion, as well as the formation of the Khalsa, or the pure.

Vaisakhi dates back to 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru, founded the Khalsa community with five volunteers who were declared Khalsa and dedicated their lives to Sikh principles.

During the day, attendees prayed, honored their holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, ate food and met with friends and family.

For Mansheel Chawla, the best part of the day was when children demonstrated the Sikh martial art known as Gatka. She pointed to children dressed in yellow robes with swords and shields.

“There’s a lot of hard work and everything the teachers teach the little kids, they do,” said the 21-year-old from Bellingham.

Chawla’s friend Theo O’Brien, who had never been to Vaisakhi, enjoyed the martial arts display. The 25-year-old said it was cool to see a different experience than what they grew up going to church.

“I enjoy it much more than church,” they said.

As the children practiced Gatka and the rain held off, a large float decorated with flowers and colorful shades of yellow, orange and blue – the main colors of Sikhism – was pulled on a tractor through the grounds of Guru Nanak Gursikh Gurdwara Sahib.

Hymns blared from loudspeakers as a priest waved a feather over the Guru Granth Sahib to protect it from dust and dirt and to signify its sacred significance.

Vaisakhi is like Christmas, Aman Kaur said, and it gives her the opportunity to pass on Sikh history to her three children.

“I want my children to know their background, their roots and where they come from,” she said, pointing out the many obstacles Guru Gobind Singh faced.

With each religious holiday, food was also central to the celebration. Tents distributed free samosa with chickpea curry, fried fritters, a drink mixed with fresh sugarcane, mint and other Punjabi dishes.

Inderjit Singh, 25, said the food offered at the festival is not always made at home every day, and most people come for the food.

The Bellingham filmmaker has been coming to the Lynden party since he was in sixth grade. Besides the food, he’s looking forward to reconnecting with friends.

“I just see people I haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “Most of the time you don’t really see people because they are busy in their daily lives.”

Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/business reporter; reach her at [email protected]; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.