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NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 7, 2004: A Muslim shrine, a Hindu temple and an ancient palace are being decked with millions of flowers as a special three-day festival of Hindu-Muslim unity begins in the Indian capital Thursday. Phool Walon Ki Sair (meaning “walk of the florists” in Hindi) is a festival that has continued from the time of India’s medieval Muslim rulers, the Mughals, who encouraged the celebrations as a means of bonding between their subjects. The British colonial rulers stopped it in 1942 to propagate their divide and rule policy, says this article. In 1961, the first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, revived it. “This festival is a great event of the love that Hindus and Muslims have shared for centuries in this country,” Usha Kumar whose family has organized the festival for 40 years told India News Service. Kumar said great effort was taken to decorate with flowers the Khwaja Bakhtian Kaki shrine, the Yog Maya Mandir and the Jahaz Mahal, a remnant of Delhi’s pre-Mughal Lodhi dynasty. Huge wooden stages have come up for traditional singers and dancers to perform. Processions from about half a dozen Indian states are expected-each bearing their own pankhas and chadars.



Phoolwalon Ki Sair began about 150 years ago when Mughal emperor Akbar Shah II was persuaded by his favorite queen to make his younger son, Mirza Jahangir, heir to the throne. But the British disliked Jahangir for his spirited ways. Irritated by the disapproval, Jahangir shot at the British resident of the time, Sir Archibald Seton, but failed to kill him and as punishment was exiled to Allahabad. His grieving mother then took a vow that if her son were allowed to return to Delhi, she would make an offering of a four-poster flowerbed at the Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki shrine. Soon Jahangir returned, though destined never to rule. But his mother kept her word and an elaborate flower canopy was created. Every year, the royal court would travel to visit the shrines. “It was by far the most lovely event where Hindus and Muslims participated together and the king would display his affection to all his subjects irrespective of their religion,” said Kumar.

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