Holy festival: Devotees pay homage to Baba Bankhandi Maharaj

A thousand cauldrons of different vegetables were cooked for the devotees during the festivities.

SUKKUR:

It was not easy for asthmatic Lakshmi Bai to travel all the way from Jacobabad to Sukkur in this hot weather but her love for Baba Bankhandi Maharaj gave her the strength she needed to pay homage.

Baba Bankhandi Maharaj’s three-day long 151st death anniversary festival began at Sadh Bello temple, situated right in the middle of River Indus in Sukkur. Thousands of devotees like Lakshmi Bai congregated at the temple from different parts of Sindh and Balochistan to express their love for Baba.

The festival began with Agni Pooja, followed by recitation from the holy books. It was, however, the first time in the history of Sadh Bello that Geeta Samelan was organised at night during which different religious personalities read out verses from the Geeta and other religious books.

Many people distributed food among the devotees for the mannats they had asked for the previous year and were granted to them. Ram Chand was also one of the distributors. He has five daughters and at last year’s festival, he had prayed for a son. This year his wife gave birth to a son and to offer his thanks, he distributed sweets.

Chairman Sadh Bello Parbandhak Committee Advocate Mukesh Kumar Karira while talking to The Express Tribune said that it was the responsibility of their committee to provide free food to the devotees during the three days of the anniversary. He said that a thousand cauldrons of different vegetables were cooked during the three-day festivities, along with naan which is prepared in a tandoor installed in the premises of the temple, especially for the devotees of the festival.

A large covered space inside the temple is provided to the devotees who have travelled from far corners of the region. Several of them can be seen taking naps on the grounds along with their families. The management committee had also hired over 25 boats for the devotees to travel to and fro from the temple. Recitation from Geeta, Guru Grinth and other holy books on Sunday will mark the end of the festival.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2014.