Celebrate spring: Jashn-i-Shahi Guzargah – a reason to return to the Walled City

WCLA had advertised the event and had issued passes for it.

LAHORE: As the evening gave way to the night, the streets and market squares of the Walled City lit up with string lights and decorated with buntings for the Jashn-i-Shahi Guzargah organised by the Walled City of Lahore Authority. The festival, celebrating the advent of spring, began on Friday and ended on Sunday. It started at 8pm each day and went on till around midnight.

The WCLA had advertised the festival and announced that passes for it could be obtained at the WCLA’s office. A spokesperson for the WCLA said that passes were given to families only.



 

Camel owners and monkeys and goat show masters, waiting for people during Jashn e Baharan Festival. PHOTO: ONLINE

The festivities began at the main street beyond Delhi Gate, which was lined with stalls selling traditional decorations, henna, bangles, shoes and clothes. Fairy lights and buntings crisscrossed the narrow alleyways and the smell of fried and barbecued street food pervaded the air.

The houses on both sides had decorations and colourful banners announcing spring strung from one balcony to the other. Residents of the Walled City and visitors thronged the streets enjoying street performers put by musicians. Several performers dressed up as guards from the Mughal era walked through the streets, engaging with visitors and posing for pictures. A goat-and-monkey show put on by a street performer was a hit with the children.

A young boy taking aim at the baloons. PHOTO: ONLINE

Manel Bakhtiar, a visitor at the festival, said the Jashn-i-Shahi Guzargah had given Lahoris a reason to return to the Walled City. “Most people would visit the Walled City for Basant. Ever since that ended, most Lahoris have stopped visiting this part of the city.”

She spoke of the long winding drive up to Delhi Gate but said, “When you enter the festival, you forget that you were tired... I would do it all over again”.

Her mother Mrs Bakhtiar agreed with her daughter. She said that she had lived in Lahore for 60 years but had never visited the Walled City once.  “This festival is a great reason to visit this area.”

 

People visiting the stalls during Jashn e Baharan Festival. PHOTO: ONLINE

Neha Gauhar, another visitor, had come to the festival to watch Lo Phir Basant Aye, a play by Ajoka Theatre. She said the Walled City provided the perfect backdrop for the play. “It seemed more authentic,” she said. The reactions of residents of the Walled City to the themes and issues portrayed in the play gives an outsider an insight into what the play signifies, she said. Several residents of the Walled City had opened small ‘restaurants’ where they served traditional home-cooked meals including sarson ka saag and makai ki roti. One such resident, Mrs Sheikh Zahid said that this was her way of thanking the WCLA for the effort they had put into renovating her house. She said the restaurants set up in houses tried to make the “Walled City experience” authentic for visitors.

Several residents of the Walled City took part in the festivities, while several chose to look on to the crowd from the balconies and windows of their houses.

Mrs Naeem, who was enjoying a concert put up by various artists at the Wazir Khan Chowk, said it wasn’t this easy for women to roam the Walled City under normal circumstances. “The organisers have put effort in to ensuring a women-friendly environment.”  The Shahi Hamam was also open to the public and a restaurant has been set up on its roof.

WCLA spokesperson Avais Raza said that the WCLA had been extra cautious with the Shahi Hamam because of the restoration work going on. He said their team had positioned members of the organising team and a chief guide at the Shahi Hamam, to not only provide information about the hamam but also ensure that the people did not step into areas cordoned off in the interest of conservation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2015.