Pleasant weather adds flavour to Mela Chiraghan

LAHORE
The entire city of Lahore seemed to converge on the shrine of Hazrat Shah Hussain on a cloudy weekend on Sunday to wholeheartedly participate in a three-day Festival of Lights (Mela
Chiraghan) and pay homage to the great Sufi poet of the subcontinent near the Shalamar Gardens, Baghbanpura.
The people of the city, which are already deprived of ample recreational activities and cultural happenings due to some justified reasons and many unjustified ones, came to the Mela Chirangan in great numbers along with their families including children and the elderly.
The entire length and breadth of the GT Road, right from Daragowala Chowk to the gates of the University of Engineering Technology echoed with a cacophony of various kinds of noises made by the unusually thick traffic volume and a hustle bustle of joyful groups of devotees pouring on the shrine of Hazrat Shah Hussain. The enthusiasm of the pilgrims, especially of the starry-eyed kids, was worth watching as they combed through the makeshift shops of edibles, toys, local handicrafts and festival-related paraphernalia. Men and women, carrying their little ones on their shoulders gathered in great numbers in and around the shrine of the great Sufi poet and a patron saint of Lahore. There was joy and laughter from the men, women and children who sang, danced and watched the magical ceremonies being carried out by ‘Malangs’ in the festival.
The two most popular and worth-watching centuries old rituals being performed at this greatest festival in the city of Lahore, remained the breathing-taking dance of the Malangs on the beat of Dhol and the lighting up of clay lamps by the devotees at the shrine of Shah Hussain. The Malnags dance on Dhol, full of ecstasy and driven by the spiritual inertia literally kept their audience mesmerised. The beautiful sight of thousands of clay lamps being lightened up by the devotees, especially women for fulfilment of their wishes, was one of the prettiest sights to watch.