Sikh new year celebrations

Indian Sikh pilgrims wave after boarding a train for Pakistan at a railway station in Amritsar on 11 April. Thousands of Indian Sikh pilgrims travel to Pakistan from India to celebrate Baisakhi, or the Sikh New Year
Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

A crowd of Sikh pilgrims arrive from India at Wagah railway station near Lahore, Pakistan, 11 April. Thousands of Sikhs from various countries visit their holy places in Pakistan to celebrate the week-long Baisakhi festival which heralds the beginning of the Sikh New Year
Photograph: Rahat Dar/EPA

Folk artists in their traditional attire and villagers pray in thanks for a good crop, as part of Baisakhi celebrations in Ajnala
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

A Nihang or Sikh warrior performs Gatkha, a traditional form of martial arts, during a religious procession ahead of Baisakhi festival in Chandigarh
Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters

A Sikh devotee takes a dip in the holy pond in the compound of the Golden Temple, one of the Sikhs holiest shrine on the eve of Baisakhi in Amritsar, India, 13 April
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

Sikh devotees pay obeisance with folded hands, facing the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines on the eve of the Baisakhi festival in Amritsar, 13 April
Photograph: Raminder Pal Singh/EPA

A Sikh devotee stands in prayer posture before taking a holy dip in the sacred pond of the Golden Temple, as a Sewadar or holy guard stands besides the sacred pond
Photograph: Raminder Pal Singh/EPA

A Sikh devotee takes a dip in the Holy Sarovar as he pays his respects at the Golden Temple in Amritsar
Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

An Indian child pours holy water taken from the sacred pond at the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines during the Baisakhi festival in Amritsar, India
Photograph: Raminder Pal Singh/EPA

Girls light hold special prayers with lamps at a historical temple in Akhnoor during the Baisakhi festival
Photograph: Channi Anand/AP

A Sikh devotee and his child emerge after taking a dip in the holy pond inside the Golden Temple at Amritsar
Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP