By Staff Report

Date:23-06-05

Source: Daily Times

SHEIKHUPURA: The 207th annual three-day Urs of Sufi poet Pir Syed Waris Shah will begin today (Saturday) at the Waris Shah Memorial Complex.

Sheikhupura district has the honour of being Punjabi Shakespeare Pir Syed Waris Shah birthplace. He was from Jandiala Sher Khan, a town on Hafizabad Road, 14 kilometres away from Sheikhupura city.

Although it is a small town, it can be compared to Multan for its tombs and shrines of Sufi saints.

About 40 saints including Pir Bahadar Shah, Sakhi Ahmad Darvesh, Pir Khaki Shah, Pir Maskeen Shah, Pir Qasim Shah, Pir Bhogi Shah, Mian Muhabbat Shah, Bibian Pak Daamnan and Pir Syed Waris Shah were buried in and around Jandiala Sher Khan.

The current complex building was built by the Waris Shah Memorial Society in 1976 and was completed in 1983 at a cost of eight million rupees and covers over 64 canals of land. The building consists of a library, 17 shops, a rest house and a stage for holding competitions.

In the three-day fair, there will be kabaddi matches, horse dances, Punjabi poetry sessions, dramas of Heer Ranjah and folk dances. District Coordination Officer Sheikh Zafar Iqbal will formally inaugurate the three-day activities at 8.00am.

Provincial Cultural Minister Shaukat Ali Bhatti who will be the chief guest will lay a floral wreath on the shrine.

Meanwhile, the international three-day World Punjabi Congress (Waris Shah International Conference) chaired by Fakhar Zaman will also be held in Jandiala Sher Khan from 23rd to 25th July.

Syed Pir Waris Shah was the most prominent poet of the 18th century. He was born in the house of Syed Gul Sher in 1722 and died in 1798 in the same village. He got his early education in a mosque in Jandiala Sher Khan. The mosque still exists to the northwest of the tomb. He completed his formal education of Dars-e-Nizami in Kasur by Maulvi Ghulam Murtaza Kasuri. Bhulay Shah was also in same seminary. Later, for spiritual training, he went to Pakpattan and remained at the shrine of Baba Farid. He later became Imam in a mosque at Malika Hans.