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PUNJAB WIKIਪੰਜਾਬپنجابCulture
Punjab WikiCulture
22 entries

Festivals and fairs

The year turns on Lohri bonfires, Vaisakhi harvests, Hola Mohalla's mock battles and the lamps of Bandi Chhor.

Traditions

Sultans and Sufis

1000 – 1469

Gurus and Mughals

1469 – 1708

Colonial Punjab

1849 – 1947

Through the ages

Basant
BasantLate January – February

The spring festival of yellow clothes and kites over Lahore.

Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi13 or 14 April

The harvest festival and the birthday of the Khalsa, when Guru Gobind Singh called for five heads in 1699.

Lohri
Lohri13 January

The midwinter bonfire, for the longest night, the new bride and the newborn son, and for Dulla Bhatti.

Bandi Chhor Divas
Bandi Chhor DivasDiwali, October or November

The day Guru Hargobind came home from Gwalior, freeing 52 princes, and Amritsar was lit with lamps.

Karva Chauth
Karva ChauthKattak (October – November)

The autumn day when married women fast from dawn until the moon rises, for their husbands' long lives.

▶ Watch
Hola Mohalla
Hola MohallaThe day after Holi, March

Guru Gobind Singh's festival of mock battles, horsemanship and poetry at Anandpur.

Muharram
MuharramEvery year

The ten days of mourning for Imam Hussain, with processions of taziyas and banners through the old cities of the Punjab.

Maghi and the mela at Muktsar
Maghi and the mela at Muktsar14 January

The day after Lohri, when Sikhs remember the Forty Liberated at Muktsar.

Dussehra, Diwali and Holi
Dussehra, Diwali and HoliEvery autumn and spring

The great Hindu festivals as the Punjab keeps them: Ravana's effigies burning at Dussehra, lamps at Diwali, colour at Holi.

Teeyan
TeeyanMonsoon, July – August

The women's festival of the monsoon: swings in the trees, giddha, and daughters coming home.

Chhapar mela
Chhapar melaEvery Bhadon

The great fair in honour of Gugga Pir, lord of snakes, in a village of Ludhiana district each September.

Roshni mela, Jagraon
Roshni mela, JagraonEvery February

A fair of lamps at the shrine of a Sufi pir in Jagraon, still kept by Punjabis of every faith on the Indian side.

Sanjhi
SanjhiAssu (September – October)

The goddess girls make on the wall each autumn, from clay stars and a painted face, and sing to for nine nights.

Shaheedi Jor Mela, Fatehgarh Sahib
Shaheedi Jor Mela, Fatehgarh SahibEvery December

Three days of mourning and remembrance at Fatehgarh Sahib for the youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh, bricked up alive at Sirhind in 1704.

Gurpurab: Guru Nanak's birthday
Gurpurab: Guru Nanak's birthdayFull moon of Kattak

The festival of lights, processions and langar for Guru Nanak's birth, when pilgrims from India cross to Nankana Sahib.

Eid in the Punjab
Eid in the Punjab

Eid prayers at the Badshahi Mosque, sweet vermicelli, new clothes and Eidi for the children.

Rakhri
RakhriSawan full moon

The day sisters tie a thread on their brothers' wrists, and brothers promise to protect them.

The urs of Baba Farid, Pakpattan
The urs of Baba Farid, PakpattanEvery Muharram

The night the 'Gate of Paradise' at Baba Farid's shrine is opened and pilgrims crowd through it.

The Sakhi Sarwar pilgrimage
The Sakhi Sarwar pilgrimageEvery spring

Pilgrims of every faith walking with drums and banners to the shrine of Lakhdata Pir at the foot of the Suleiman hills.

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