Killa (Fort) building during Diwali

It’s a decades old tradition of making Killa (Fort) by using mud during Diwali
in memory of the Great Maratha warrior Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Children across various regions of Maharashtra build such Killas in their
residential colony or main chowks in their area. This Killa making proces helps them to gain knowledge about our rich culture and heritage.

Apart from gaining historical knowledge, it also involves Team work and Creativity. This Diwali, I had captured one such Killa built by kids in my housing society, Sarvoday Pooja.

The gang of boys started preparation of building Killa almost 15-20 days
before the Diwali. It involved collecting big black stones and mud from nearby construction sites, gardens and road sides.

In addition, they had arranged for Killa Fund from their parents. This fund
was required for purchasing small statues of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji and his soldiers also known as Mavales.

It was interesting to see their dedication and team work during building the Killa as they had to allot time for this activity apart from attending regular school and tuition. Every team member was alloted some work.

One day prior Diwali, Bhargav my son told me, “Papa, our Killa is ready. Please come and have a look”. I was happy to see the efforts put in by the boys in building the Killa. It was nice to capture the moment of achievement on their smiling faces.

Surprisingly, this chintu team also won “Third Prize” in the Bhavya Killa Spardha 2019 (Grand Killa Competition 2019) arranged by Shiv-Sena’s Wayalenagar Shakha, Kalyan.

Congratulation to the Killa Team – Ayush Mali, Ayush Patil, Atharv Nikam, Bhargav Baikar, Harsh Ganatra, Karthik Mali, Manas Patil, Ojash Joshi, Rudra Warange, Sharvang Kulkarni 🙂