Basant Panchami at the Nizamuddin dargah

Wondering how Basant Panchami celebrations became a ritual at the Nizamuddin dargah? It all started with a smile.   : Mohammad Anas

Transcript

00:00This is the celebration of Basant Panchami, and it's happening at the Hazrat Nizamuddin

00:11Dargah.

00:15Basant Panchami marks the end of the cold winter and the onset of spring.

00:21The festival is dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, music and art, Saraswati, and devotees

00:26dress up in yellow clothes symbolizing the flowers that bloom in the spring and fly kites

00:32in celebration.

00:33The Dargah of the Sufi saint, Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya has been celebrating the

00:38Hindu festival for centuries, and the story behind it is one for the books.

00:51Legend has it that Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who lived from 1238 to 1325, believed that

00:58saints should have Ishq, Akl and Ilm, i.e. love, wisdom and knowledge, and use them all

01:05generously.

01:06Auliya did not have any children of his own, but he dearly loved his sister's son Khawaja

01:12Taqiuddin Nuh.

01:14When Khawaja Taqiuddin passed away from an illness, Auliya grieved over his nephew so

01:19long that he stopped smiling.

01:21This immensely troubled one of his followers, Hazrat Aamir Khosrow, a Persian poet.

01:27Khosrow then set out on a mission to make the saint smile again.

01:31One day, he saw a group of women dressed in yellow, who were carrying flowers and singing

01:37to each other.

01:38He asked them where they were going and the women told him that they were going to offer

01:42the flowers to their god at the temple.

01:44He then asked, would this make your god happy?

01:47The women said yes.

01:49Khosrow now had a plan to cheer up his saint.

01:51He dressed up in a yellow saree, took mustard flowers to the saint and started singing,

01:57Sakal ban phool rahi sarso, or every field is full of yellow mustard flowers.

02:03Amused at seeing the way his disciple was acting in dress, Auliya smiled.

02:08And that smile marked the end of his grief.

02:11The moment was commemorated as a time of joy and ever since then, Auliya's followers have

02:16celebrated Basant Panchami dressed in yellow with flowers and song.

02:21Each year, the procession goes through the violins of the Nizamuddin Basti, passes the

02:25grave of Khwaja Taj-ud-din Nu and into the shrine of Auliya.

02:35Once at the shrine, the administrators of the Dargah place a yellow chadar or sheet

02:39over the saint's grave, shower it with flowers as the Qawals sing.

02:44This is the only time of year when Qawwali is sung inside the shrine, near the saint's

02:49grave and not out in the courtyard.