Mela Chiraghan is one of the major events in Lahore that is attended by more than 500,000 people. Mela Chiraghan of Lahore is one of the biggest festivals in the city that is celebrated every year for 3 days. It is held on the last Friday in the month of March.
Also known as Mela Shalamar, Mela Chiraghan is a festival of lights. On this occasion, the devotees of Shah Hussain gather in the outskirts of Lahore and light lamps to pay reverence to the holy saint. Mela Chiragha commemorates the death anniversary of Shah Hussain - the Punjabi saint and Sufi poet.
On the 1st day of Mela Chiragha, the devotees of Shah Hussain organize a procession after dusk. This occasion is marked by a lot of revelry and merriment. During this occasion, the devotees sing to the beating of drums.
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The songs and qawalis written by the saint are usually sung. On the last day of Mela Chiragha, only the women visit the shrine of Shah Hussain and perform the holy rituals.
During Mela Chiragha in Lahore, food stalls selling traditional Pakistani food are set up near the shrine of Shah Hussain. One cannot miss the medieval food items sold in these stalls. Eunuch dance and burning of hashish are the other major attractions of Mela Chiragha, Lahore.
Shah Hussain’s shrine in Baghbanpura, which is beside the Shalimar Gardens, is the venue where the rituals of Mela Shalamar take place. Initially, the mela was held in the Shalimar Gardens. However in 1958, President Ayub Khan barred it from being organized there.
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