Vaisakhi - Sikh New Year and Harvest Festival

At the kind invitation of Sukhjinder Sarai , General Secretary of the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Walsall the WCC was invited to come along and photograph the 2011 Vaisakhi celebrations.
We turned up on a lovely sunny day at the Temple in Walsall and greeted by Sukhjinder. He took us over to meet the official photographer who was more than happy for us to follow him and get some good shots. Well, we actually lost him after about 15mins because we were so taken by the differing colours of the crowd. The atmosphere was electric and everyone seemed pleased to be there, families greeting each other and friends catching up on latest events.

We were advised to cover our heads, we had, as a caution, packed a head scarf which I had shaped earlier, Mike had trouble but was rescued by a woman in the crowd who attempted to make him look the part. After about 30mins the Sikh Guru Grath Sahib, holy book, was carried onto a beautifully decorated carriage while prayers were being sung (I understand this to be "Kirtans", singing of hymns). Drummers fronted the procession with a line of Khalsa, "The Pure, soldier saints" and then the carriage, followed by the gathered crowd.

As we followed the procession, more people joined us, Mike and I felt comfortable photographing families, in fact, they were very happy to stop and have their photo taken, asked us where we were from and would walk with us and explain the meaning of this event, the festival and the various costumes worn.

The march took us along the streets of Walsall, what started out as around maybe 200 people suddenly became 3,000 or so, as people joined along the way. Everyone was chatting, we walked with Sikh marshals who would also explain various aspects of the festival and along our way Sikh's gave out food and water, tea and ice cream to anyone who was passing while people from behind and in front gathered litter along the way. After about 2 hours the march ended back at the Temple car park. A prayer was spoken and people then started to enter the Temple. Mike and I asked if we could go in, of course, no problem, we just needed to take off our shoes, then wash our hands.

We got inside and bumped into a very busy Sukhjinder, we must visit upstairs, he said, look at the prayer rooms, find someone to talk to if we needed any information. Well, another photographic opportunity not to be missed.

We followed other Sikh's around, took off our shoes and washed our hands, then went upstairs. At the top of the stairs were various rooms, most seemed to be prayer rooms but for one that was locked and decorated inside - this was the Guru Grath Sahib room, the holy book and this was where it was put to bed. Mike and I could hear music from one room so we headed there, then stopped at the door. It looked like we should not enter, people were sat on the floor and there seemed to be prayers in progress. Not knowing what to do, we came away to rethink, should we just go in, what are the rules, we were in a very religious place that commanded respect, although we did not know how we could be involved without the risk of offending or looking silly.

There would be no other choice but to look from the entrance then go back downstairs slightly defeated. But there was no need, we obviously looked nervous looking from the door. A Sikh sitting inside waved to us to come in. We sat down then Mike had a tap on the shoulder saying not to stretch his feet out towards the front of the temple but to sit crossed legged. The Sikh advised us on various aspects of Temple protocol and then I dared to ask if we could take pictures - no problem, just show respect to folks in prayer and not move about too much. So out came the zoom lens and I managed to get a few shots. The prayer room saw people coming in and out, at the front, musicians played and at a decorated stand, a man stood waving a fibre looking brush as people approached.

After a while Mike and I headed back down stairs which lead to the Temple entrance. We spoke to a couple of Sikhs who invited us to eat. Through a double door we came into a massive canteen area and joined a queue. We were offered fruit, rice, a chick pea curry, chapatti and water. We sat down to eat and spoke to various people who were keen to know where we were from and welcomed us into the Temple.

In summary Mike and I not only had a fantastic photographic and educational day out but we found ourselves amongst friends and felt apart of - and welcomed into the celebrations around Vaisakhi regardless of our own religious or cultural background. In fact we enjoyed it so much, we found out that there was an even bigger celebration the following weekend in Birmingham - and we went. Fantastic :)

Adam Cusack