The first Sikh Prade of London showed a huge turnout of people from various communities to celebrate Sikh New Year and Khalsa Sajna Diwas. The parade was organized by the London Sikh Society in downtown London.
Karamjit Singh, secretary of the London Sikh Society says they were trying to organize this parade for the past few years, but plans had to be delayed because of Covid. He continuous saying, ” As London is growing, the communities living inside are also growing. The same has happened with the Sikh community and the number of Sikh families has increased from 200 to 2000 in just 5 years.”
History
Vaisakh is the first month of the Sikh calendar. April 14 is the first day of the Sikh calendar and in the year 1699, the Tenth Guru (Teacher) of Sikhs created the Khalsa Panth on the soil of Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. He gave Sikhs an identity and gave five principles to Khalsa referred to as Five Ks. There was a code of conduct laid for Khalsa and anyone who wanted to join Khalsa had to follow these.
The parade was an attempt to bring the Sikh community together and tell more people about who Sikhs are. The organizers were happy with their attempt and the parade showed a huge turnout.
The parade was open to be participated by people from anywhere and any religion. Victoria Park was filled with tents serving free food and community service stalls.
“Sikhs had to go to Toronto and Brampton to attend these events and with the community growth there was a need to organize such events here in London and we want to organize them more frequently,” says Karamjit Singh.
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