Events / April (Vaisakhi)
Punjab
Baisakhi (Vaisakhi) Mela
The Sikh harvest festival and pilgrimage, prayers, langar, and processions at Panja Sahib and Nankana Sahib.
Each April, Sikh pilgrims from Pakistan, India, and the diaspora gather at Gurdwara Panja Sahib (Hasan Abdal) and Nankana Sahib for Baisakhi prayers, kirtan, nagar kirtan processions, and community langar. It is one of Pakistan's most significant living pilgrimage events.
- Sikh pilgrimage
- Langar (community kitchen)
- Nagar kirtan procession
- Harvest festival
- April; verify yearly
- When to plan
- Mid-April; dates and pilgrim arrangements are coordinated with the Evacuee Trust Property Board, verify yearly.
- Getting there
- Hasan Abdal is about an hour from Islamabad on the GT Road / motorway; Nankana Sahib is near Lahore. Both are well organised during the festival.
- Region
- Punjab guide →
A shared pilgrimage
Baisakhi marks both the spring harvest and the founding of the Khalsa. Panja Sahib and Nankana Sahib fill with kirtan, devotion, and the langar tradition of free food shared with everyone.
Visiting respectfully
Cover your head, remove shoes before entering the gurdwara, and follow stewards' guidance. Visitors of all faiths are welcomed warmly, especially around the langar.
On the heritage trail
Combine with Kartarpur Sahib and Lahore's Sikh heritage for a fuller minority-pilgrimage route through Punjab.
More in Punjab
Region guide →
February
Cholistan Desert Jeep Rally
Pakistan's largest motorsport event, a multi-day off-road rally across the Cholistan dunes, staged around the great Derawar Fort.
February
Basant, Jashn-e-Baharan
Lahore's spring kite festival, rooftops and skies fill with colour to welcome the end of winter.
March
Mela Chiraghan, Festival of Lights
Lahore's “Festival of Lights”, the Urs of the Sufi poet Shah Hussain, celebrated with lamps, music, and devotion.
