Bada Mangal' fest gets bigger every year

Lucknow: Every year, they say it could not get bigger than this but then it does and this year, from four or five Tuesdays, it has grown to nine Tuesdays.

The ‘Bada Mangal’ festival that is held on each Tuesday of the Hindu month of Jyeshtha, is a festival that is peculiar to Lucknow. It is not held in any other city or state. The festival has a history of almost 400 years and is devoted to Lord Hanuman.

According to historians, the Hanuman temple in Aliganj was constructed by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan in 1798 when his mother Aliya Begum’s prayers were reportedly answered and the Nawab was blessed with a son.

Aliya Begum insisted on building he temple and the Nawab complied. The Aliganj temple has a star and a crescent on the dome and the ‘Bada Mangal’ festival is a perfect example of Hindu-Muslim unity.

The Hanuman temples in Lucknow open their doors at the stroke of midnight and devotees continue to offer prayers for almost 24 hours. So great is the devotion that even the cops deployed inside the temples, stand barefoot and do not wear belts and leather accessories.

Those who come with special prayers, crawl their way to the temple, clad in red loincloths and braving the searing May heat. The local people help these devotees complete their journey by sprinkling water on the roads and offering. ‘Bada Mangal’ is a local holiday and the entire state capital gets into a festive mood. Corporate houses, students, traders and even individuals set up stalls offering free food to devotees. Several Muslims also set up stalls for food. In fact, there are over 30,000 stalls that are set up on every ‘Bada Mangal’ in Lucknow and the municipal corporation, from this year, have decided to charge a sum of Rs 500 from every stall as cleaning up charges.

From the initial jaggery and grams that were offered to devotees, the ‘prasad’ later became ‘poori sabzi’ allowing the devotees a wholesome meal.

Over the years, the menu has also expanded and you can now savour burgers, chow-mein, sherbet, juices, ice creams and other delicacies at these stalls. This year, due to ‘adhik maas’ (additional month in Hindu calendar), there will be two months of Jyeshtha and instead of four /five Tuesday, there will be nine Tuesdays.