It sometimes appears to me that the small minority within Sikhs which is radical in nature wants to dissociate itself from all things Hindu [popular Hindu festivals, for example], and yet it doesn't want Sikhs and their kids to miss out on the nationwide/worldwide celebrations that take place on these popular festivals. And so a new, different reason to celebrate popular Hindu festivals is created for Sikhs, with a different name.
Examples include Hola Mohalla, which has been popularized to coincide with Holi, and Bandi Chhor Divas, which coincides with Diwali, and Rakhri, which overlaps with Rakhi. The point here is that Sikhs do want to be a part of the nationwide celebrations that take place for key Hindu festivals and they also want their kids to not miss out on the countrywide celebrations, but they do not want it to look like they're celebrating Hindu festivals, and so they create/popularize their own reason for celebrating the day.
Update [21-Sep-16]: Similarly, Sikh emphasis on the distorted word 'Arjan' instead of 'Arjun' can be explained as an attempt to not be seen as having been derived from Hinduism, when it's the latter that's the actual word. But because the latter is a character in Hindu mythology, Sikhs have changed 'Arjun' to 'Arjan'. Same for changing 'Hari' to 'Har', 'Govind' to 'Gobind', 'Ishwar' to 'Ishar', and many more.
Update [27-Oct-19]: From Wikipedia. Another related link.
"Sikhs historically celebrated Diwali along with Hindus, with Guru Amar Das explicitly listing it along with Vaisakhi as a festival for Sikhs.[1][2][3] In late 20th century, Sikh religious leaders increasingly called Diwali as Bandi Chhor Divas, and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee adopted this name along with the Nanakshahi calendar in 2003."
Update [21-Sep-16]: Similarly, Sikh emphasis on the distorted word 'Arjan' instead of 'Arjun' can be explained as an attempt to not be seen as having been derived from Hinduism, when it's the latter that's the actual word. But because the latter is a character in Hindu mythology, Sikhs have changed 'Arjun' to 'Arjan'. Same for changing 'Hari' to 'Har', 'Govind' to 'Gobind', 'Ishwar' to 'Ishar', and many more.
Update [27-Oct-19]: From Wikipedia. Another related link.
"Sikhs historically celebrated Diwali along with Hindus, with Guru Amar Das explicitly listing it along with Vaisakhi as a festival for Sikhs.[1][2][3] In late 20th century, Sikh religious leaders increasingly called Diwali as Bandi Chhor Divas, and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee adopted this name along with the Nanakshahi calendar in 2003."
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