Urs celebrations: When milk flows as in paradise at Data Darbar

Every year, thousands of devotees who throng shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh are served pure milk free of charge

LAHORE: Data Ali Hajveri or Data Ganj Bakhsh, as he is more commonly known, may be one of the more popular Sufi saints to have lived in the region that is now part of Pakistan. But few outside of staunch devotees would know the story of his miracle of milk that has spawned a custom of generosity – one that has lasted centuries.

Legend has it that the people of Lahore were compelled to regularly provide a significant amount of milk of their livestock to the ruler, Yogi Rai, who lived nearby a fort when the renowned saint arrived in the city from his native Ghazni. Rai, it is said, had convinced the Lahoris that failure to provide him milk would be a sin and cause their livestock to produce blood instead.

On Data Ganj Bakhsh’s third day in Lahore, he saw an old woman bound for Rai’s fort with her offering of milk. When he asked her if he could have some of it, the woman voiced her apprehension. “If I do it, my cow would produce blood instead of milk if I dare serve it to anyone else,” she pleaded.

When Data Ganj Bakhsh assured the old woman that nothing of the sort would happen, she finally relented and gave him some of the milk. When the woman milked her cow next, it miraculously produced more milk than ever or so the story goes.

Surprised and overwhelmed, the old woman spread word of the miracle among her neighbours who began serving their milk to Data Ganj Bakhsh instead of Rai. The latter, upon learning of the development, attempted to drive the saint out of Lahore but suffered a miserable defeat.

Ultimately, Rai converted to Islam and was bestowed the name Sheikh Hindi and spiritual leadership by Data Ganj Bakhsh. Following his change of heart, others in the vicinity started embracing Islam in numbers as well.

Since then, every year on the urs of the venerated Sufi saint, his shrine in Lahore turns quite literally into the land of milk for those that throng it for three days of celebration. To commemorate the legendary miracle, the milk producers of the province donate gallons of their finest milk so that it can be distributed as offering at drinking stalls (sabeels) among the devotees.

With the 976th urs of Data Ganj Bakhsh currently underway, the area around Data Darbar has been dotted with dozens of sabeels that serve milk free of cost. According to estimates by organisers, more than 40,000 gallons of milk has been provided by milk producers all over the province for the purpose.

The committee of religious affairs at Data Darbar has appointed a committee of milk producers to oversee the distribution.

“Two months before the commencement of the urs, we visited various parts of Punjab, met with large-scale milk-producing businesses and asked them to bring milk to the urs,” the head of the committee, Chaudhry Manzoor, told The Express Tribune. “To make the process smooth, we constituted sub-committees in different districts across the province which were made responsible for collecting milk from specific areas and bringing it to Lahore.”

Manzoor added that the quality of milk has been checked by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA). After being transferred to the containers, the milk is kept in chillers to save it from going bad.

The convener of the sabeel committee, Haji Mohammad Tufail, said that his forefather established the sabeel welfare in 1960 which is still running to date. “The tradition is going on for the past 59 years and every milkman ensures to bring the best-quality milk to the sabeel to show their devotion,” he said.

Milk is not all that devotees who take part in urs celebrations receive. The participants are also offered generous servings of food free of cost from langars organised by volunteers who consider the practice spiritually rewarding.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2019.