Hindu festival Rama Pir begins

Thousands of barefoot devotees have gathered at the temple for the religious ritual.

TANDO ALLAHYAR:

One of the biggest Hindu festivals in Pakistan, the annual fair of Shri Ramdev aka Rama Pir, kicked off on Monday in Tando Allahyar. Travelling on foot, thousands of his disciples from across the country have arrived at the temple to pay homage to the Hindu saint - undeterred by the construction at the temple.

The Bheel, Menghwar, Marwari, Odh, Karia, Rajput, Baghri, Thakur and Kutchi Kohli tribes among other scheduled caste Hindus usually travel to the annual ritual on foot. Some Hindus of the upper caste also attend the fair each year. One can see hundreds of devotees travelling barefoot along the National Highway and the Super Highway for the festival. Rama Pir was a 19th century saint, who was cremated in Ronija, a village in Rajasthan, India. His followers have constructed temples to his name throughout India and Pakistan. In Tando Allahyar, the Rama Pir temple was build around 206 years ago by a man named Chano Khatri, when his prayer for a son was fulfilled. His devotees claim that the saint used to visit the area and mostly sat at the place where the temple stands now. There is another Rama Pir temple in the Thar desert.

Shri Ramdev was the first Hindu saint to call himself a “Pir” - a term usually used for Muslim saints. Not only Hindus but people from other religions, including Muslims, also pay homage to him as well. They believe that Rama Pir was a spiritual being and performed several miracles.

Rama Pir’s followers also believe that their wishes will come true if they put up ‘Dajja’ (flags) of different colours at the temple.

Hundreds of flags are hoisted at the temple daily during the festival, which continues for five to seven days. The devotees also bring so many sweets that each heap has to be removed by the organisers every hour. The area echoes with the chants of “Jeay Rama Pir” (long live Rama Pir). Roadside stalls selling different items crop up around the temple each year apart from around 150 shops built inside the premises. The district administration has deployed extra police over security concerns while traffic towards the temple has been diverted.

Several artefacts are also on display at the temple, including a pure gold relic depicting Rama Pir himself. A 12-member committee called the “Shiva Mandli” organises the fair and informs people about its arrangements each monsoon.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2012.