Mela Chiraghan

Mela Chiraghan or "Festival of Lights" is a three-day annual festival to consider the urs (death ceremony) of the Punjabi poet and Sufi saint Shah Hussain (1538-1599) who were in Lahore in the 16th century. It occurs at the shrine of Shah Hussain in Baghbanpura town, on the suburb of Lahore, Pakistan, next to the Shalimar Gardens. The festival also used to occurs in the Shalimar Gardens, until President Ayub Khan ordered against it in 1958.

The festival used to be the largest in Punjab but now comes second to Basant. Ordinary farmers, Mughal emperors, the Punjabi Sikh citizens and even the Britain officials during their British era used to go at this fantastic festival. The Maharaja Ranjeet Singh (13 Nov 1780-27 June 1839) had high honour for this 16th-century Sufi saint, Shah Hussain. In the first half of the 19th century, during the Sikh commanding years in Punjab, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh used to manage a procession from the Lahore Fort to this festival site.

...see more

Map of Mela Chiraghan

Sign In

Sign In