Devotees head to Bhit Shah for 2nd day of urs

Abida Parveen and Sanam Marvi are expected to perform on the third and last night of the urs.

HYDERABAD:

The sleepy little town of Bhit Shah came to life with music, dance and prayer for the three-day urs of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, an iconic Sindhi saint and poet. Thousands of devotees arrived on the second day of the 271st urs of the saint.

A sughar katchehri [folk conference], cultural village, industrial and agricultural exhibitions, cattle shows, horse race, malakhra [traditional wrestling] and literary events were organised to entertain the devotees and spectators during the day. During the evening, visitors enjoyed musical shows, raag and surs from Bhittai's poetry.

Abida Parveen and Sanam Marvi, two of Sindh's biggest singers, are expected to perform on the third and last night of the urs.

For those interested in literature, the sughar katchehri and international literature conference caterd to the intellectual side of the visitors. "The sughars are the heir of Bhitai," said Manzoor Kanasro, the director-general of the Sindh Culture Department. "They have kept his legacy alive."

The international literature conference which was held on Monday drew scholars from across Pakistan and a few from abroad. They read out papers on various aspects of Bhittai's life, poetry and music.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2014.