The three day 427TH annual Urs celebrations of Hazrat Mahdu Lal Hussain and Mela Chiraghan start in here today. Auqaf minister will formally inaugurate the Urs celebrations. Hundreds of thousands devotees from all over the country and abroad are expected to attend the celebrations. The three-day event is known as Mela Chiraghan (festival of lights). Many devotees light clay lamps to honour the saint at his shrine near Shalamar Gardens in Baghbanpura. The final day of the Urs is reserved for women.
The festival is celebrated after the last Friday of the month of March and is one of the largest traditional events in the province of Punjab before the harvesting of Rabi crops in which people from all walks of life gather and lit a lamp for the fulfilment of their wishes.
The event starts with hundreds of devotees dancing to the drum beat towards the shrine of Sufi Saint Shah Hussain. A large number of locals set up stalls of edibles on both sides of the road leading to the shrine. After reaching the shrine, devotees throw candles into a fire lit at a side of the shrine. They believe that closer the fire, greater the chances of their prayers being accepted.
The festivities include singing of the saint's kafis, qawalis and the setting up of traditional food stalls. Another attraction at the Urs is the dancing transvestites and eunuchs.
Auqaf Department has arranged various programmes for the occasion - a Mehfil-e-Naat, a Mehfil-e-Samaa, recitations of the Holy Quran, spiritual gatherings, and a Husn-e-Qirat session. Shah Hussain was born in 1538. In his poetry he called himself Hussain Julaha, Hussain Namana, Hussain Faqeer and Shah Hussain.
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