The dancing troupe from Orissa perform Orissi( Classical dance form) on the festival of "Phool Wallon Ki Sair".
Phoolwalon-ki-Sair became an annual celebration and something that the people looked forward to every year in the months following the monsoon. In 1942, at the time of the Quit India Movement, the British suspended the festival for reasons of security. But Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who responded instinctively to its beauty and gaiety, re-instituted the festival in 1962. Since then, history is beautifully re-enacted every year in the form of this procession of flower-sellers.
Phool Walon Ki Sair meaning "procession of the florists" is an annual celebration by the flowers sellers of Delhi. It is a three-day festival, generally held in the month of September, just after the rainy season in the region of Mehrauli, Delhi. A festival is seen as an example of the composite culture of Delhi, which has bolstered an environment of communal harmony in the city, and even today the festival is celebrated by both Hindus and Muslims alike.
This secular festival involves a procession, led by shehnai players and dancers, and bearing large floral fans, pankha, to Yogmaya Temple, the shrine of Devi Jog Maya, and winds though Mehrauli bazar, to reach the dargah of 13th century Sufi saint,Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki.
Also known as Sair-e-Gul Faroshan, during this three festival, the flower sellers pray for a better flower season in the coming year by offering big fans, pankha, embroidered with flowers to both shrines.
Just as when it was first conceived, and had the Mughal Emperor as its patron, these days the festival has the Prime Minister of India has its main patron; Jawaharlal Nehru who revived and inaugurated festival in 1962, and all the PMs hence, have equally participated in the festival. Another tradition is to offer a similar floral pankha to the President of India, Chief Minister of Delhi and also the Lt. Governor of the city. The recent addition are the cultural troupes from various states of India, which perform songs, dances and drama at the main function which is held at 'Jahaz Mahal' in also in Mehrauli, located in a corner of 'Hauz Shamsi' and is believed to built in Lodhi dynasty era, takes the festival beyond its vision of communal harmony to that of national integration.
Source: Wikipedia
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
