HAPPY BASANT

I. IntroductionII. Where is it celebrated?III. Who is the inventor of this Holiday?IV. How do people celebrate Basant?V. Special food and special clothes.

IntroductionThe Basant Kite Festival is a seasonal festival of the Punjab region. It falls on Basant, also called Basant Panchami Punjabi and Vasant Panchami. According to the Punjabi calendar it is held on the fifth March marking the start of spring.

In North India, and in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Basant is considered to be a seasonal festival and is celebrated as a spring festival of kites by people of all faiths.  The festival is summed up in the phrase, Ayi Basant Pala. Being seen as a seasonal festival, Punjabis of all faiths have traditionally celebrated Basant.

Historically, Maharaja Ranjit Singh held an annual Basant fair and introduced kite flying as a regular feature of the fairs held during the 19th century.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his queen Moran would dress in yellow and fly kites on Basant. The association of kite flying with Basant soon became a Punjabi tradition with the centre in Lahore which remains the regional hub of the festival throughout the Punjab region. Indeed Maharaja Ranjit Singh held a court in Lahore on Basant which lasted ten days during which time soldiers would dress in yellow and show their military prowess.  Other traditions of the Basant in Lahore included women swaying on swings and singing.

Where it is

celebrated

Lahore is the traditional area where kite flying festival is held. However, the festival has also been traditionally celebrated in areas such as Sialkot and Gurdaspur.

The festival of Basant is celebrated across Malwa,

Punjab where people organize gatherings to fly kites. A

large festival is organized in Patiala. On that day women

generally dressed in yellow garments and men wearing

yellow coloured turbans join the festival.

A large fair is organised on the day of Basant

Panchmi in the Shiv temple of Bansari and Gudri which is

located in Dhuri, . The fair includes swings, rides and

food.

Malwa,

Punjab

• Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, started the Basant Panchami fair. People attend the fair wearing yellow clothes and turbans. In Hoshiarpur, thousands of men, women and children participated at this festival. Basant in the Punjab is associated with Haqiqat Rai who laid down his life to fight for the right of people to follow their religion of choice, in 1742 A.D. on Basant. At the fair held at the Boeli of Baba Bhandari, it is customary to hold kite flying competitions

Doaba

Punjab

The other traditions are common to other regions celebrating Basant: it is traditional for people to wear yellow. It is also customary to eat rice coloured with saffron. Other sweet dishes include gajjar da halwa and laddo. People decorate their houses with yellow flowers too. People pluck yellow flowers and decorate the main doors of the house with it welcoming the spring and the new season.

Other

traditions