Data’s urs: Qirat, naat competitions mark the first day

Rana Sanaullah, Ishaq Dar perform Chaddar Poshi in chief minister’s absence.

LAHORE: Husn-i-qirat and husn-i-naat competitions were organised on Sunday on the first day of the 967th urs of Hazrat Ali Hajveri, popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh.

The qirat competition begun after Maghrib prayers and was presided over by provincial minister for religious affairs and Auqaf Ihsanud Din Quraishi. The naat competition was held after isha prayers.

The urs kicked off at 2pm with the chaddar poshi ceremony. It was led by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Ishaq Dar, Ihsanud Din Quraishi and the Iranian Counsel General Ali Nikan. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was missing due to health reasons.

Sanaullah and Dar later inaugurated a milk sabeel which would run around the clock throughout the three-day event. Muhammad Ali Gujjar, the organiser, said his family had been running the sabeel at Data Gunj Bakhsh’s urs before he was born.

He said that milkmen from across the province contacted them ahead of the urs and commited to providing milk for the sabeel.

The section of the Lower Mall from district courts to Azadi Chowk has been banned for all kinds of vehicles. The service lanes have been taken up by stalls of traditional food items such as qatlamma, samosas and several kinds of sweets.

Muhammad Bakhsh, a stall owner, said his family was always on the run, from one shrine to another to setup food stalls. Besides business, he said, the urs had a spiritual value for him.

Pilgrims from outside the city kept arriving at the Darbar in groups throughout the day.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th,  2011.