Spring Festival of South Asia

Few would know that Basant Panchami, the ancient Hindu festival of spring, is also celebrated by many Muslims in India, especially at the dargah (tomb) of Nizamuddin Aulia at Delhi, every year. This 700-year-old colourful tradition is attributed to the Sufis, especially the Chishti saint Nizamuddin and his disciple Amir Khusrau Dehlavi, who were probably the first Muslims to have rejoiced at the celebration of Basant.

In February 2002, Communicators' Cooperative (a collective of media and arts professionals, registered as a multi-state cooperative society), decided to revive the spirit of Basant festival by organizing a public event in and around the dargah Nizamuddin area. The Basant Utsav 2002 involved events such as a heritage walk, an exhibition of books and other material, a film screening, and finally, an evening of classical and Sufi music in which eminent artists such as Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Madan Gopal Singh, Vidya Shah, Dhruv Sangari and others performed. The event was attended by about 2000 people, including Delhi's chief minister Ms. Sheila Dixit.

This year, the Cooperative has organized a 4-day festival of Basant (6-9 February, 2003) at two locations: around the Dargah Nizamuddin, and at Mehrauli. The festival was co-sponsored by the Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi, and many other organizations and individuals. The main attractions of the programme were a Saraswati Vandana (by Iqbal Ahmad Khan and others) at the tomb of Mirza Ghalib, a kite-flying event, an Urdu-Hindi poetry session, a painting competition for school children, a concert of world-music and many other musical performances.

The Basanti carnival continues. We have already started planning for the next year's Basant. And the interesting news is that in 2004, the Basant Panchmi is likely to fall on 26th January. Being a Monday and a national holiday, we propose to hold our event for three day long weekend (24, 25, and 26th January). Some details about our proposed events for 2004 are given here. We request all to give us your suggestions and feedback for improvement, and also active participation - we need more financial support too, to preserve this centuries old unique heritage.

Download a short video film on Sufi Basant here