Mela Chiraghan
Encyclopedia
Mela Chiraghan or Mela Shalamar ("Festival of Lights") is a three day annual festival to mark the urs
Urs
Urs is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint in South Asia, usually held at the saint's dargah . South Asian Sufis being mainly Chishtiyya, refer to their saints as lovers and God as beloved...

 (death anniversary) of the Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

 Sufi poet and saint Shah Hussain
Shah Hussain
Shah Hussain was a Punjabi Sufi poet who is regarded as a Sufi saint. He was the son of Sheikh Usman, a weaver, and belonged to the Dhudha clan of Rajputs. He was born in Lahore...

. It takes place at the shrine of Shah Hussain in Baghbanpura
Baghbanpura
Baghbanpura is a town and Union Council of Shalimar tehsil, Lahore District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located along the Grand Trunk Road some 5 kilometres northeast of the main Lahore city....

, on the outskirts of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, Pakistan, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens
Shalimar Gardens (Lahore)
The Shalimar Gardens , sometimes written Shalamar Gardens, is a Persian garden and it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 CE and was completed the following year...

. The festival used to take place in the Shalimar Gardens also, until President Ayub Khan ordered against it in 1958.

The festival used to be the largest festival in the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

, but now comes second to Basant.
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