HAPPY

BASANT

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Introduction
Where is it celebrated?
Who is the inventor of this Holiday?
How do people celebrate Basant?
Special food and special clothes.

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Intr

The 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.

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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.
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.

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A large fair is organised o
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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

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Basant: it is traditional for people to wear yellow. It is also
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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.