Phool Walon Ki Sair

What it is

The festival lasts several days. Its heart is a procession through the lanes of Mehrauli with shehnai players, drummers and dancers. At the front are the pankhas: tall fans of palm leaf and bamboo, decorated with flowers and tinsel and carried on poles. At the saint's shrine, called a dargah, a chadar is laid over the grave. A chadar is a sheet, here made of strings of roses and other flowers. Laying one is the usual mark of respect at Sufi tombs across South Asia. Fairs, kite flying, wrestling and evenings of qawwali singing fill the other days.

Where it comes from

The festival dates from the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar Shah II, in the early nineteenth century. His son Mirza Jahangir was sent away from Delhi by the British authorities. The story told is that the prince's mother vowed to offer a chadar of flowers at the dargah in Mehrauli if he returned. When he did, she kept the vow, the flower sellers of Delhi joined in, and an offering was made at the nearby Yogmaya temple as well. The court then repeated the event every year.

How it works today

The British stopped the festival in the 1940s, during the struggle for independence. It was revived in the early 1960s with the support of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, as a celebration of harmony between religions. A citizens' society now organises it, usually in October or November, after the rains. Fans are also presented on behalf of the President of India and Delhi's government, and several Indian states send their own decorated pankhas and troupes of performers.

How to take part

1. Check Delhi listings for the dates, which are announced each year.
2. Go to Mehrauli on the procession days and follow the fans from the Yogmaya temple to the dargah.
3. Stay for the evening qawwali at the Jahaz Mahal, a lakeside pavilion from the Lodi period.

Good manners

• Cover your head at the dargah and take off your shoes at both the temple and the shrine.
• At this dargah women are not admitted to the innermost enclosure. Follow the signs and the guidance of the attendants.

The flowers

Phool Walon Ki SairDelhi’s annual flower procession celebrating unity after the monsoonRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursAztec marigoldThe golden-yellow flower of Mexican altars and Day of the Dead offeringsArabian jasmineA small white jasmine with a strong, sweet scent, treasured in Asia for garlands and ceremonies

Also part of it, and being written: Agave amica.

Sources and further reading

• Phool Walon Ki Sair on Wikipedia