Data Sahib urs: Celebrations continue on second day

Basement hall packed for naat and qawali sessions.


Express January 15, 2012

LAHORE:


The second day of the three-day urs of Hazrat Ali Hajvari passed peacefully with scores of devotees paying their respects and participating in rituals on Saturday.


There were lectures and speeches by religious scholars and sufi leaders, a mehfil-i-naat, a mehfil-i-sama, dhamal and other sufi dances. Visitors filled the Grand Hall in the shrine basement throughout the Saturday night listening to naats and qawalis.

Professional performers were the focus of attention but people also flocked around devotees performing dhamaal in small groups. Two dancers performed a special malang dance wearing orange and green gowns and anklets.

At lecture sessions Dr Muhammad Mazhar Ashrah Ashrafi Kachochvi, Sahibzada Hafiz Mian Abu Bakar, Mufti Muneebur Rehman and Syed Deewan Al Sayed Ajmeri gave lectures. Deewan Syed Muhammad Tahir Nizami presided over the mehfil-i-naat.

Some visitors complained about beggars and pickpockets. One visitor said many people had been deprived of their cash and valuables on the shrine stairs, where they were stuck for as long as an hour.

A group of youngsters who came from a village near Gaju Matta on foot told The Express Tribune that they had been doing it for several years. One of them said he had been doing it for 10 years and hoped to continue.

“This brings good luck and protects one from misfortune,” he said.

The Gajju Matta group brings huge chaddar and floral wreaths and is accompanied by drummers. They said the drums served as a reminder and sometimes people who saw them on their way came and gave them charity money or offerings for the shrine.

Security arrangements remained tight and visitors had to stand in long queues to be frisked. Many devotees were observed offering prayers outside the shrine as it took them as long as an hour to get through the security barriers to get it.

Amanat Ali, a resident of Shah Alam area, said he had stopped going inside the shrine since last year. He now offered his prayers from outside the shrine.

The urs celebrations will end today.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012. 

COMMENTS (1)

Falcon | 12 years ago | Reply

Its good that govt. has tightened security on Data Sahib's shrine.

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