The Delhi Secretariat came alive with the sound of the shehnai on Monday as a special ceremony was held asPhool Waalon Ki Sair(procession of the florists), an annual festival symbolising communal harmony, returned to the Capital months after Delhi Development Authority (DDA) allegedly denied permission last November.
The week-long festival is unique as the Hindu and Muslim community together offer the floral chaadar and pankha at the Dargah of Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaaki in Mehrauli.
Another floral pankha and chhatra (canopy) is offered at the ancient temple of Devi Yogmaya in Mehrauli.
On Monday, members of Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan, a non-profit that has been organising the festival since 1961, extended a traditional welcome to Chief MinisterRekha Gupta.
They honoured her by presenting the customary floral fan, a long-standing tradition associated with the festival, the government said in a statement.
The festival, usually held in November, was not held last year as the organisers had alleged that DDA had denied them permission to hold the festival in Aam Bagh in Mehrauli.
The then Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had then intervened in the matter and granted permission to hold it at its original venue, Aam Bagh.
“The last time I went to DDA to ask for permission for the festival, they said there is an order of a superior court.
They said the same thing this time also.
But I asked them for the order.
This order referenced another Supreme Court order, but that did not apply to us as it was only for commercial and marriage events.
Once I told them this, we immediately got permission,” said Usha Kumar, General Secretary of the Anjuman Sair-E-Gul Faroshan.
Meanwhile, Gupta highlighted the importance of the festival inDelhi’s cultural landscape.
“Phool Walon Ki Sair is far more than just a festival.
It represents a remarkable example of Delhi’s shared cultural heritage and the spirit of harmony that defines the city.
The tradition serves as a reminder that unity and brotherhood have always remained central to India’s diverse cultural fabric,” the CM said, reiterating that the government is committed to preserving and promoting the capital’s historical traditions and cultural events.
The festival has its origins in the early 19th century, when the Mughal empire was beginning to decline.
Prince Mirza Jahangir had fired at the British resident and was exiled to Allahabad.
His mother, Mumtaz Mahal Begum, promised that once her son returned she would walk barefoot from the Red Fort to the dargah of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli to offer her gratitude.
When her prayers were answered, it is said, local flower-sellers scattered flowers along her route and made floral fans (pankhas) which were offered at both the Kaki dargah and Yogmaya Temple.
From this act grew an annual fair instituted in 1811, bringing together people of different faiths in a syncretic celebration.
It was halted during British rule in 1942 and revived in 1962 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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Source: This article was originally published by The Indian Express
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