Flowers of Memory, Seeds of Unity: Reinterpreting Phool Walon ki Sair

Authors : Arzu Yıldız Aydın

Pages : 57-75

Doi:10.33718/tid.1774302

View : 113 | Download : 172

Publication Date : 2025-11-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The Indian subcontinent, the homeland of Hinduism, the third most practiced religion in the world today, and home to the vast majority of its believers, also has a large Muslim population. It is also a fact that there have been intense interactions between Muslims and Hindus since the first Muslim presence in the Indian subcontinent, and that these interactions have resulted in the members of the two religions adopting certain elements of each other’s beliefs, culture and lifestyle. Sometimes these interactions have been positive and moderate, while at other times they have led to mutual tension and conflicts. It has been observed that various methods have been tried by the rulers in almost every era to eliminate this social tension and polarization. They have attempted to bring the adherents of these two faiths, which appear to be at different religious and cultural extremes, closer together. Phool Walon ki Sair, the Florists’ Procession Festival, is a perfect example of this. First celebrated during the reign of the ruler Akbar Shah II (1760-1837), it was later reintroduced by Jawaharlal Nehru to promote unity and solidarity between the Muslim and Hindu communities. This festival has a cultural rather than religious value and has been celebrated and internalized by both Hindus and Muslims. This festival, a rare example of state officials’ efforts to unite a community of diverse cultures and beliefs and eliminate division and hatred, is noteworthy in many respects. It has become important and necessary to examine this festival, which began to be celebrated during a period when the British imperialist rule was dominant in the region, and which served the purpose of rejoicing and celebrating together rather than uniting the Hindu and Muslim faiths, from the perspective of the History of Religions. In this study, how Hindus and Muslims have celebrated this festival from past to present will be discussed with a historical, comparative and descriptive method and some current analyses will be attempted. We believe that this study will be a noteworthy work that will contribute to the studies conducted in Türkiye and internationally on the ongoing tense Hindu-Muslim relations in the Indian subcontinent.
Keywords : Dinler Tarihi, Müslüman, Hindu, Festival, Ful Valon ki Sair

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