Annual gathering: Sakhi Sarwar’s Urs concludes

Thousands of devotees express their love and gratitude for the Sufi saint

DERA GHAZI KHAN: The celebrations of 837th Urs of Sufi saint Syed Ahmed Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar, concluded on Saturday. Hundreds of devotees including Muslims, Hindus and Sikh participated in the Urs celebrations of the saint.

The celebrations of the festival concluded with a 100-kilogrmme of Halwa (sweet dish) cooked in a gigantic cauldron. Halwa was distributed among thousands of devotees. The cooking of Halwa at Sakhi Sarwar’s is in practice for the past 950 years.



Ahsan Shabir, a devotee from Multan, said this Langar (communal meal) heals all the physical and spiritual diseases. He said this was the miracle of the Sufi. Abdul Ghani, another devotee from Karachi, said he travelled hundreds of kilometers just to receive the langar for his wife who was sick. “We have experienced it and it is our faith that it (hlawa) cures the patients,” he said.

The communal meal is prepared by the devotees themselves and it is cooked for three consecutive days. All the devotees contribute to the preparation of this meal.

Strict security measures were taken by police and Auqaf department on the occasion. Auqaf District Manager Hammad Hassan said the department has tried to provide shelter and water to the devotees despite limited funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2017.