Sunday, March 12, 2006

Basant; A festival of Kites & Colors

The grand Badshahi Mosque

Basant is a true Lahori celebration of colors, flowers, kites, fragrances, of love & of a sweet youthful time called Spring.

Each March brings the colorful blooming of Lahore, the city of Gardens; my city.

Whole of the city is decorated with colorful sponsor banners and lights all along the canal, the Mall road and Main Boulevard, Gulberg. All major landmarks are lit up to show grandeur of Lahore's rich culture and its Mughal & Colonial heritage.

Asif Jha's Haveli; one of the main venues of grand Basant celebrations.

Friends and family gather at common places to celebrate reunions and party for most of the Basant Night. Starting from the sunset, flood lights are lit up all over the city's skyline as people start off with white-kite flying. BarBQs are served with traditional Lahori dishes as the cries of "Bo Katas" & Dhol (traditional drums) echo throughout the next day.

Basant Night

People from different cultures and countries are welcomed by their hosts. Many foreign dignitaries from the federal capital, Islamabad are invited over to different Basant events in Lahore.

Basant has become the biggest drawer of tourists for this historic city and Pakistan's cultural capital. Most of the suburbans book roofs in the old city especially for this event.

Guddi Luteray; Children run after kites that land

From 5-star hotels to Golf Clubs, from Banks to Telecom companies; all become a part of Jashn-e-Baharan (Celebration of the Spring) by arranging functions of their own in different vicinites of the city.

For a Lahori, Basant is a blend of joy, happiness, love and celebration; a moment of rejoicing with loved ones and that of just chilling out.

This time, Basant Day was on March 12, 2006 i.e. Yesterday.

10 comments:

Trailady said...

Beautiful pictures!! I learn so much about your culture when I read this blog. Thank you SO much!! :o)

Nabeel said...

what .. it's basant already in Pakistan? I thought it was during the ramazan days .. awesome event .. i love kite flying .. was pretty good at it .. kite fights were greattttt mann .. i miss it soo much .. great pictures

Chen said...

This is the first time I heard about Basant. Thanks for sharing :)

Hasan Mubarak said...

trailady: Every culture in the world is as interesting as ours. It's all about celebrating diversity...

nabeel: Nahi yaar! it wasn't in Ramadan. Yes, it's the most celebrated event in Lahore and has become Lahori culture's integral part.

chen: You are most welcome chen!

Raheel Lakhani said...

The only thing I like about basant is colors and lights.. I don't like kites, punjabi language, ghee, lassi and bhangra. I find all of these things so awkward or maybe I am such a creation :p

Anonymous said...

Hey Hasan...nice to see an update :)...I went to Badshahi Masjid...and went to the cucoos nest restaurant...miss that place...so cultural and oh well traditional...really miss lahore...:) how did your basant go? I will see ya around :)

Tim Rice said...

Thanks for sharing about Basant. It sounds like a wonderful time. And I enjoy learning about other cultures. Thank you.

AsianSmiles said...

beautiful pictures MrH!

Hasan Mubarak said...

raheel: It's the feeling of festivity & celebration that's so unique to this time of the year. I love it...

no one: Still wishing to visit Cukoo's Den. The place has got such enchanting views of the Badshahi Masjid.

tim rice: so nice of you to visit my place. Make sure to visit Lahore in Basant once in a lifetime. You are never gonna regret it...

asiansmiles: Oh thank you so much!

Celsa said...

Gorgeous!

Lahore Metblogs