LAHORE: A three-day-long festival marking the 978th Urs of Hazrat Ali bin Usman Al-Hajveri, popularly known as Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, began on Sunday in Lahore.
Punjab Religious Affairs Minister Syed Saeed al-Hassan inaugurated the celebrations by laying a chaddar [shawl] at the shrine.
Religious Affairs Secretary Nabeel Javed, Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department Director General Tahir Raza Bukhari, Lahore police chief Ghulam Mahmood Dogar and Deputy Commissioner Umer Sher Chattha were also present.
During the festival, the shrine is lit with candles and lights, donated food is prepared for the people, Sufis perform dhamal [ritual dance] and musicians play music for hours.
Hundreds of mashaikh, religious scholars and Sufis are participating in the Urs. The distribution of sabeel started at 11:30 am.
The government has taken extraordinary security measures to avoid any untoward incident. The administration had installed 40 security cameras around the premises to monitor the activities.
The police have deputed around 1,000 men to ensure security. Whereas, the traffic police has made a comprehensive diversion plan to facilitate the devotees during the celebrations.
Furthermore, walkthrough gates and metal detectors have also been installed to inspect visitors entering the shrine.
Bakhsh was a Persian Sufi and scholar during the 11th century. He was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan in 990 AD during the Ghaznavid Empire and settled and died in Lahore spreading Islam in South Asia.
