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13 Jun 2011

BASANT FESTIVAL – pakistan – india – best spring festival

“COLOURS OF SPRING”
INTRODUCTION
In this age of science and technology, people have started race for their survival in thesociety and to move with the pace of the time. This trend has shortened the time of thepeople for their recreation and entertainment. In this situation the only entertainmentremains the religious and social festivals. Basant or Vasant is a famous festival inthe Indian sub-continent. This is also called kite festival. In the early time it wasn’tconsidered or celebrated as festival but now it has become a big festivity in India andPakistan.

BASANT FESTIVAL

BASANT FESTIVAL

Basant means a festival at which kites are flew and people enjoy. Basically it isan Indian festival. This festival is celebrated on any date between January and February.In Sanskrit language Vasanta is one of the six seasons and Panchami is the fifth dayof Magh which is a Hindu month. There are some parts in sub continent where Basantis celebrated as most auspicious festival than any other like Ferozepur in India. As thespring starts the festivities of Basant are get started.

BASANT IN INDIA
The Basant festival is celebrated at the end of the winter season and at the start of thebeautiful spring season. It says good bye to winter and welcomes the spring in whichflowers are blossom and birds sing sweet songs. Basant is marked as the first festivalof the year so everyone tries to make it memorable and joyful. It is celebrated alloverIndia with great enthusiasm. People from all of every age enjoy the festival withoutgender discrimination. Specially boys, girls and children show more enthusiasm. at thisday people get up early in the morning and offer their holly rituals. After their sacredobligations, the festivity begins. Boys, girls, men, women and children wear yellowcolour dresses.

People buy the kites and strings in big quantity. Yellow colour is the signof auspiciousness and spirituality. The colours are not ended here; even food is colouredyellow with saffron. Different kind of sweet dishes are prepared and are exchanged withthe relatives specially Kesar Halva which is also in yellow colour. The people are gottogether and sing the sweet songs of spring. In India the day is dedicated to GoddessSarsvati who is the the Goddess of knowledge and learning.


BASANT IN PAKISTAN (JASHAN-E-BAHARAN)
The festivities of Basant festival are celebrated in Pakistan in their full swing. LikeFerozepur, Lahore is the centre point for the entertaining activities of Basant. Initially thefestival was celetrated in the outer sides of the city then it got more attention and becameone of the most important festivals in the city. Other than the city of Lahore there aresome other cities like Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Jhelum, Kasur and Rawalpindi/Islamabad where Basant is celebrated with great attraction. Same like India people wearyellow dresses, prepare foods for different taste but the colour it is tried that the colourof the dish must also be yellow.

Although the festival is celebrated allover Pakistan butLahore is famous for its Basant festivities in the world. The city of Lahore is now suchfamous that Indian stars from film industry also take part in the festival.During last few incidents of injuries and deaths has badly affected the festival.
The festivities of the festival and the colours of the spring invite you to come and enjoycherish and delightful voices of the people with joy.

Category: BASANT FESTIVAL, festival, India, Pakistan, Tourism Guide  Tags: , , , , , , ,  Comments off
16 Mar 2011

HUNZA VALLEY-Best Natural Places To Visit in Pakistan

“Mountain Kingdom”



About Hunza

Hunza valley is one of the major tourist attractions in Pakistan. It is the real natural beauty of the world. It is situated in Gilgit Baltistan at the north of the Hunza River. The total area of Hunza is about 7900 sq km. the beauty of the valley can be imagined with the fact that it is surrounded by the snow capped mountain peaks like Ultar Sar, Rakaposhi, Hunza peak, Passu peak etc. All these peaks are 6000 meters or higher. This would be the real joy for people who love mountains to reside the place like Hunza. You feel like that you are the part of a fairy tale. You can rightly say that this place is like a fairy tale land. The main town of the valley is Karimabad.


History & Geography

Hunza was a declared princely state till 1974. Princely state means an Indian state or native state. This princely state was later on dissolved by the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was the prime minister of Pakistan at that time. The oldest settlement of the valley is the village of Ganish. Hunza remained an independent state for more than 900 years. Then the time came and British invaded the Hunza and Nagar valley and gained control of the valley between 1889 and 1892, which ended with an intensive military engagement in the valley. The ruler of the valley was called Thum which means prince.Geographically at the south of Hunza there is Gilgit Agency and to the east there is another princely state Nagar. Geographical facts narrate that the Hunza valley had been the easy route to enter the Swat and Gandhara. This valley provided an on foot track for the visitors to enter the Swat and Gandhara many centuries back. It was not possible to cross the area by boarding on animals. The difficulty of the track can be easily understood by the fact that the path was just 20 inches wide.


Amazing Scenery & Generous People

Pakistan is rightly said a tourist paradise. It has small valleys which are full of sweet fragrance of the alpine flowers. Among the other sites the Valley of Hunza has an eye catching and stunning beauty. This valley is surrounded by snow capped peaks, beautiful flowers, friendly and hospitable people. The visitors of Hunza are welcomed by the fragrant breeze which gives a musical sound when strikes with the trees of poplar. The beauty of the valley is extinguished with the wheat fields which give the look of smooth and soft carpet at the bottom of the snow covered mountains. The valley has most magnificent mountains of the world like Rakaposhi which is 7,788 meters high. Baltit fort and Altit fort represents the historical signs of this beautiful valley. People of Hunza valley are the followers of Prince Karim Agha Khan for which they are called Ismaili Shia Muslims. Main town of the valley, Karimabad is named on the name of Prince Karim Agha Khan. Karimabad is a natural beauty in itself. This place has spectacular scenery that must be seen. It would be interesting to know for the readers that literacy rate of hunza is about 90%.

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12 Mar 2011

Kalash Fastivals -Best Natural Places To Visit in Pakistan


“A Real Time Festivity”

 

Kalash Fastivals


About Kalash Valley

Kalash Valley is one of the major tourist attractions in Pakistan. This is situated in the Chitral district of Pakistan. This valley has a historic background but its history has controversies. No one is sure about the actual history of the valley. According to one of the legends of area, the soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great were settled here. The people here have their own religion infact they have no religion at all. They are the followers of early age pagan tribes. That’s why they are called kafir kalash. The Kalash valley as a whole is the combination of three other valleys. These valleys are named Birir, Rumboor and Bumburate. Among these three valleys Bumburate is the largest and is the most beautiful. It has beautiful scenery.

 

People & LifestyleKalash

belongs to old tribes and have their own religion and culture. This valley has a unique and amazing culture. The People here live in small villages which they built on the hill sides. These villages are at the banks of the streams and rivers. People construct their homes with rough shaped logs. Because of the slope and steepness of the area, people construct double storey houses. People of Kalash are very lively. People here live a simple life. They wear simple traditional dresses. Women and girls wear a traditional headdress. Most of the women have small but simple tattoos at their faces. People of Kalash enjoy the festivals. They love to dance and are great admirer of music. The people have blonde hair and have light brown eyes show their connection with the Europe.

Festivals of Valley

People of Kalash are cheerful, fun loving and witty in nature. The love festivals and enjoy them with full of dance and music. Women folk dance of kalash is very famous. Other than the beautiful scenery, Kalash valley is known for its festivals. A large number of people are united and invited in the festivals. There are four main festivals which are celebrated here.

Joshi/Chilimjusht Festival

This is one of the four famous festivals of Kalash. This festival starts in May every year. Main theme of celebrating the festival is to honour the fairies and to protect the goats and shepherds from any causality before they leave for the pastures. The houses are decorated in the whole valley. This decoration is done by the women and girls of the valley. They worship the Goddess Jestak which they believe will protect their children and homes. They sprinkle milk on the Goddess. The main point of the festival is Rumbur where the tribal chiefs are gathered and they sacrifice goats in the name of their Gods. Women wear their traditional black robes, colourful necklaces, cowries shelled head dresses and dance in the circle. Later men join the women. This festival lasts for four days.

Uchal Festival

This festival is started in August when the harvesting season of wheat and barley starts. Mainly it is celebrated in Rumbur and Bumboret. It is started with the dance activities of young girls and boys.

Phoo Festival

This is celebrated in August and is celebrated only in Birir. When the harvest season of grapes and walnuts starts people are gathered to share the joy. This is also the time when the shepherds come back from pastures. At this occasion dance and merry making is held.

Chomos Festival

The chomos festival starts in the mid December. This is the most famous festival of the Kalash valley. The festival is celebrated for the immortality of the relatives of the people whether living or dead, to cheer the joy of the safeguarded crops and goats from the calamities and to purify the villages and valleys for the future. A torch lit procession is led from the nearby villages to the Charsue where a huge dance celebration is occurred. At this time most of the festivities are indoor where they enjoy local wine and dance while holding hands and crossing arms round the waists. Tribal leaders sit at the hill tops and wait the sun to rise, with the sun rise they declare the new year. This is the real festivity. Everyone should visit the beautiful valley with rich and amazing culture in Pakistan.

 

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