{"id":6572,"date":"2014-04-15T10:51:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T10:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2014\/04\/15\/library-of-birmingham-lights-up-orange-for-vaisakhi\/"},"modified":"2014-04-15T10:51:36","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T10:51:36","slug":"library-of-birmingham-lights-up-orange-for-vaisakhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/15\/library-of-birmingham-lights-up-orange-for-vaisakhi\/","title":{"rendered":"Library of Birmingham Lights Up orange for Vaisakhi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vaisakhi is the Holiest Day in the Sikh Faith <\/h3>\n

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On the evenings of Sunday 13 and Monday 14 April the iconic Library of Birmingham was lit up in orange to celebrate the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi, the holiest day in the Sikh faith calendar. The historic occasion marked the first time a public building in the UK has been lit up in observance of a Sikh sacred festival, a gesture which pays homage to the collective contribution of Sikhs in the UK.<\/strong><\/div>\n

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The event was organised in partnership with the Birmingham Sikh community and the Library of Birmingham to celebrate Vaisakhi, the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.<\/div>\n

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To the faithful, Vaisakhi, is a time of grave religious significance; to inspire, to build up faith, to widen our orbit of human relationships, and to foster virtues and values, which enrich human lives.\u00a0<\/div>\n

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Birmingham City has one of the highest population of Sikhs in the UK. The virtues and values which Sikhs remember and aim to live up to at Vaisakhi are:<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Naam Japo (prayer and contemplation)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Kirat Karo (earning a livelihood through sweat of the brow)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Wand Shako (sharing one\u2019s wealth and knowledge with others)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Kirtan Karo Te Suno (singing and listening to God\u2019s praises)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Haumae Maro (shedding one\u2019s ego and being humble)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Daya Palo (exercising love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Parupkar Karo (being altruistic)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Sarbat da Bhalla Mango (seeking welfare of all)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Changi Sangat Karo (seeking and enjoying the company of the holy and exalted)<\/div>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Jo Karo \u2013 Nishkam Karo (seeking no reward, gift or salvation.\u00a0Being selfless and ready to sacrifice).<\/div>\n

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Initiating the \u2018going orange\u2019 of the library was Brian Gambles, Assistant Director of Culture at Library of Birmingham; David Pots, Head of Learning Resources at Library of Birmingham; and Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, Chair of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ).<\/div>\n

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Birmingham faith leader, Bhai Sahib Ji has contributed immensely to inter-religious understanding and had just arrived from the US after receiving the prestigious Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize from Hofstra University for promoting interfaith harmony. In 2012, he was created a Knight of St Gregory the Great by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in recognition of his commitment to working for peace among people of all faiths. His contributions echo the Sikh principles of volunteering, selflessness and community participation to bring about change for the common good.<\/div>\n

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Bhai Sahib Ji said: \u201cPractising Sikhs with a distinctive identity, having the five kakars and dastaar, are expected by the Guru to be compassionate, courageous, loving, humble, to exercise self-restraint, to be ethical in conduct, to stand up for their own and others\u2019 rights, and to maintain an ever-ascending spirit of optimism.\u00a0Guru Gobind Singh Ji\u2019s translated composition in English, provides us Sikhs a great direction for life on Vaisakhi: \u2018Empower me, God, to never shy away, from doing what is good and right.\u00a0May I, thus, become fearless in facing life\u2019s battles, inside and around me, with resolute belief in victory. May my mind then learn; yearning only to praise your infinite goodness, and so, may I relentlessly continue to do all that is good and right, until my very last breath.\u201d<\/div>\n

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On the occasion, a book about Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the eternal Guru of the Sikhs, was presented to the Library of Birmingham by Bhai Sahib Ji.<\/div>\n

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Brian Gambles, Assistant Director of Culture at Library of Birmingham said: \u201cLibrary of Birmingham is absolutely delighted to support the Sikh community in celebrating this important festival of Vaisakhi.\u201d<\/div>\n

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In addition to the lights, one of the UK\u2019s largest annual Vaisakhi celebrations (attracting some 60,000-70,000 participants) will take place at Handsworth Park to mark the Sikh nation\u2019s collective birthday on 27th<\/sup> April 2014 at which there will be an area for prayer (Guru Darbar) which will be an important focal point, open to all communities to visit and understand the Sikh faith.\u00a0Bringing a spiritual and festive atmosphere to Handsworth Park, there will also be live music, entertainment, Punjabi food and craft stalls. \u00a0The traditional Langar \u2013 free vegetarian meal from the Guru\u2019s kitchen \u2013 will also be served.<\/div>\n

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Vaisakhi is the Holiest Day in the Sikh Faith On the evenings of Sunday 13 and Monday 14 April the iconic Library of Birmingham was lit up in orange to celebrate the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi, the holiest day in the Sikh faith calendar. The historic occasion marked the first time a public building […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}