Sikhs in Slough celebrated the festival of Vaisakhi with gusto at the weekend.

Children undertook seva (selfless service) at the Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara, the biggest in Europe, taking part in all the activities that would normally be carried out by adult volunteers over the two days.

All Sikhs are encouraged by the Guru Granth Sahib – the religious text read by Sikhs – to perform seva for the “moral uplifting” of the individual.

Jeevan Kaur, 13, a pupil at Herschel Grammar School, said: “It was so much fun doing the seva activities and for me it was a unique opportunity to have an insight into everything involved in running a Gurdwara. It really made me appreciate all the hard work the sewadaars do.”

And five-year-old Prubjot Kaur said she was “delighted” with her sewadaar badge which every participating child received.

Vaisakhi is the celebration of the creation of the Khalsa.

The gurudwara hosted two days of activities for the festival, which included the traditional ceremony of the changing of the flag (Nishan Sahib) which was undertaken by the whole community.

It also houses the UK’s only permanent Sikh art exhibition, without shape without form, which was open to everyone.

The day culminated with a display of ancient Indo Persian Armour by Ajeet Armory, a local group who has carried out preservation projects in India using techniques learned from the world’s major museums to preserve Arms and Armour belonging to the Sikh Gurus.