Basant,
a spring festive or Jashan-e Baharan ,spring celebration
Passion for kite flying in air
Heritage includes events, festivals, celebrations, personalities, cultures, customs, tradition, language, art, architect, etc. Pakistan has many hertiages attractions & festivals to celebate through out the year.Basant is one of them.this is a beautiful event with sky flooded with kites. For this occasion men drape themseves in embroidered shalwar kameeze(local dress) with matching ankle-length scarve mostly in yellow color and on the other hand womenfolk apply heena on their handsand stack their arms with banglesand dress in bright color of yellow or green.
In early March to welcome the arrival of spring the Basant ( Kite flying ) festival is held in most cities of the Pakistan with the highlight in Lahore . In the subcontinent and China kites have been used in different form since ancient times. From 100 BC to AD 500, kites were used for sending signals and to measure the distance of enemy camps. In AD 930, the Japanese mentioned Shiroshi, meaning paper bird, for the first time. Between AD 960 to AD 1126, kite flying became a popular sport in China. The ninth day of the ninth month was a day when kites were flown to banish evil.
As the month of March
approches a air of basant carnival ,stories of kite flying,rooftop
soirees,garden parties and flowers blooming everywhere.The ancient eastern city
of Lahore marks the beginning of spring with the Basant carnival
is most celebrated and watched but whole country also participated.lets go back
to the history when nighttime kite-flying in the walled old quarter around the
16th century Badshahi mosque and Lahore fort opens the festival. Ancient mughal
palaces throw open their doors for all-night parties to view the kites,
illuminated by and then slashing the sky with specail classical Qawali musicians at parties.now a
days same old tradition take place when white paper kites shimmer in the night
sky, diving and soaring as rival fliers joust in duels marked by battle cries
of Pecha!(twist) and victory shouts of voh kata!(cut off) Bursts
of drums and trumpets mark the cutting of a kite's cord.during this season there
use to be a lot of rush at kite shops, especially in old Lahore and
Karachi Empress market as children and
men gathered to purchase their favourite coloured kites and string. The
festival is a part of the country culture. A number of special dishes are also
prepared for the occasion. Basant is an event of colors and lights. The dance
of kites in lights would be visible to everyone who would look up at the sky.
In Pakistani old towns and cities, where there is less open space, terraces and
rooftops are often used for the kite competations. It is more colourful in the
old city of Lahore where everyone wears yellow clothes and flies kites from the
rooftops. People from different cities throng to Lahore, where kite flying
begins at dawn and continues until the dusk. Friends, neighbors and visitors
battle one another for victory and cries of triumph fill the air when one cuts the kite
string of the another kite flyer. The kites are in a variety of shapes , size
and different colours. From huge kites which need three to four people to fly
to tiny ones for the kids. So in short one can say that happiness can be found
in sharing and enjoying this simple occaision with laughter and happiness .
