The tradition of Fort making during Diwali is as old as the city itself. It's a passion shared by kids and adults alike. They make all kinds of big and small forts in their courtyards. Something that strikes you about all forts is the attention to detail. No matter how tiny the fort is, you will always find a well laid-out entrance path, gates, walls, etc.
Some 'experts' ( TTip - People who always seem to have a lot of mud in their finger nails ) go on to make exact replicas of famous forts of yore. These forts are generally submitted as entries in various Fort Making competitions across the city. A fort made by my neighbour:
End Of A Fort
Forts built by kings were never supposed to fall...they withered only with time. However, forts made during Diwali die in a more spectacular way. They are Bombed (and blowup) by using bombs ( TTip - These are fireworks with extremely creative names ranging from 'atom bomb', 'laxmi bomb' to 'Mallika Sherawat', and so on...contact me for a complete list of names! )
This is the only officially supported way of unmaking a fort; other ways may to be too simple and thus may risk eroding Nagpuria sense.
Make Your Own Fort
Requirements:
1. Fine Soil
2. Mustard (sarso) seeds
3. Base Material - bricks, earthen pots, sand, stones, etc.
4. Decorating Material - oil paints, thermocol, lights, etc.
5. And ofcourse, some Intelligence!
Procedure:
- Think up a basic design of your fort
- Arrange the base accordingly
- Smear with mud
- Sprinkle mustard seeds wherever greenary is required (Don't forget to keep water the fort)
- Finally, go for decoration. Let your imagination run wild here!
3 comments:
I had no idea about the tradition of building forts during diwali, even though I claim to be living in this city for more than two decades. This is an excellent way to know your roots and be creative as well, specially for kids. Thanks for this wonderful input, and I hope to see one in real next year!
P.S. I noticed the 'time of post' of this blog. 6:29 am :P
This one's really very interesting.I have always known of gharondas and lighting them but not bombarding them..
Is there some particular story behind destroying such beautiful fort replicas? Whatever be the story but this was really something new revealed..
I don't remember any particular story relating to destroying the forts...it simply is a custom followed by most people. Personally, I believe that it is a way to cherish creativity by keeping the forts temporary, and thus building new forts every year.
However, i would surely like to know the story behind this and would post about it as soon as i know it!
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