Thousands of devotees attended the 556th annual Ramdev mela in Tando Allahyar district on Friday. Hindus from all over Sindh walked to the Rama Pir temple. Many were seen carrying bags of rice and walking hundreds of kilometres as a ritual.
The fair is held every year in the sixth month of Hindu calendar, Buddo, which is also the last month of the monsoon cycle when the winter crops are sown.
Legend says that Rama Pir's temple in Tando Allahyar was built by a man from the Khatri community 155 years ago as a votive offering, three and a half centuries after the demise of Rama Pir, a reincarnation of Lord Krishna. He had prayed for a son and when his wife was blessed with one, he built the temple. The original tomb and temple of Rama Pir is in Rajasthan, India, where he was cremated after his death in 1459 AD. Khatri brought an earthen lamp from the temple in Rajasthan and placed it in Tando Allahyar's temple.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.
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Nice to see such reports on 'minorities' of Pak . More pics would have helped.