Sikhism: The festival of Vaisakhi

Thursday 30th April 2020

What am I learning today?

LS: I am learning to understand the

concept of belonging and what it involves.

Lesson focus: The festival of Vaisakhi

What do you remember from Autumn term?

Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak around 500 years ago in a place called the Punjab. This is an

area which spans part of India and Pakistan in South Asia today.

• The Sikh place of worship is called a Gurdwara and their holy book is known as: The Guru Granth Sahib.

• Guru means “teacher” and there are 10 Gurus altogether.

What do the Sikhs believe?

Sikhs believe in one God who guides and protects them. They believe everyone is equal before God.

Sikhs believe that your actions are important and you should lead a good life. They believe the way to do this is:

• Keep God in your heart and mind at all times

• Live honestly and work hard

• Treat everyone equally

• Be generous to those less fortunate than you

• Serve others

Guru

Nanak is

the first

teacher

of

Sikhism.

The

Khanda

represents

the belief

in One

God.

What is Vaisakhi?

Vaisakhi, is the festival which celebrates the founding of the Sikh community, the Khalsa, in

1699. Vaisakhi is a spring festival which happens on the 13 or 14

April every year.

• In 2020 Vaisakhi took place on Monday 13 April. (2 weeks ago)

• It was originally a harvest festival in the Punjab until it became Sikhism's most important festival.

It’s a festival

celebrated by

people in Punjab,

India and all over

the world…

The story of VaisakhiGuru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, chose this occasion to establish the Khalsa, meaning ‘pure ones’. The Guru called upon Sikhs to uphold their faith. He came out of a tent carrying a sword and asked anyone who was prepared to give his life for his religion to come forward.

This continued until a total of five

men had gone into the tent. Finally,

the Guru emerged from the tent

with all five Sikhs, who were dressed

in yellow and were wearing turbans.

Guru Gobind Singh called these 5

Sikhs the Panj Pyare (the Five

Beloved Ones).

Guru Gobind Singh baptised the Panj Pyare into

the Khalsa community, in a ceremony called

Pahul and prepared amrit – holy water

meaning nectar – in a bowl using a steel sword.

The story of VaisakhiKhalsa men take the surname Singh which

means ‘lion’. This is a reminder to be courageous. Women take the surname Kaurwhich means ‘Princess’ and this is a sign of

dignity.

The names of the five Panj Pyare were:1. Bhai Daya Singh – first of the Panj Pyare and

represented kindness.2. Bhai Dharam Singh - second of the Panj Pyare

and represented justice and righteousness.3. Bhai Mukham Singh – third of the Panj Pyare and

represented organisation.4. Bhai Hummat Singh – fourth of the Panj Pyare and

represented courage.5. Bhai Sahib Singh – fifth of the Panj Pyare and

represented majesty.

How is Vaisakhi celebrated?• People wear special, traditional

clothes and visit the Gurdwara; they give thanks for what they have and pray to God.

• There are parades through the streets led by 5 individuals who represent the Panj Pyare.

• Sikhs have the opportunity to be blessed with the amrit. Drinking amrit shows that they are accepting that all people are equal, to help those in need and those who are badly treated by others.

• Most importantly, they donate to the poor and hand out food offerings. This is known as Seva.

Watch this video

using the link which

shows how doing

Seva is important

during Vaisakhi.

https://www.youtub

e.com/watch?v=z4E

wHU1qqRg

Let’s get to work!Please visit the school website or

Google Classrooms and click onto the Year 4 Class Pages to download

the activities for this lesson.

Activity 1: True or false – you will need to read the statements and figure out whether they are correct, any false statements can be corrected with your new found knowledge.

Activity 2: Create a character profile of one of the 5 Panj Pyare.

Activity 3: Create your own comic strip re-telling the story of how the Khalsa was founded.

If you’re finding

things tricky to

download or print,

feel free to

complete your

work in your yellow

exercise book