The three-day activities of 766th Urs of South Asian great spiritual leader and Sufi saint Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Suharwardi began on Monday with a traditional ghusal (bath) of the shrine, performed by Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sajjadah Nasheen of Darbar at Qila Qasim Bagh.
The bath of the shrine held at 9am before starting the first session of the National Zakariya Conference.
Thousands of devotees hailing from interior of Sindh were pouring into the Urs proceedings. Pakistan Railway has run special trains from Mirpur Khas, Hyderabad and Sukkur to facilitate the followers of the saint.
A number of stalls have been set up along the road, selling traditional items of Multan, silver or brass ornament and toys for visiting kids and the whole scenes were presenting a colourful picture around the shrines.
The doors of shrine have been decorated with colourful lights, which also invited a hustle and bustle in the town of saints and mystics.
Multan DCO has announced local holiday on the third day of Urs on Wednesday.
A special delegation from Rajisthan, India led by Khalifa Burhan Suharwardi has also arrived here to pay homage to the saint.
Jamaat Ehl-e-Sunnat Central Chief Allama Syed Riaz Hussein Shah, Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi, Mufti Hidayatullah Passrorvi, Hazrat Datta shrines' orator Allama Maqsood Ahmed Qadri, Allama Muhammad Farooq Khan Saeedi, Saeed Ahmed Farooqi and others delivered their speeches in the first session of the conference.
A number of dignitaries and religious leaders, including Punjab Minister of Auqaf Saeedul Hassan Shah, Punjab Secretary Auqaaf, Multan City District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar, Syed Wajahat Gillani, Syed Mazhar Saeed Kazmi and Multan DCO Mian Iftikhar Babar also spoke.
The second session of the conference will be held on Tuesday at 9:30 am, in which Qari Muhammad Mian will be the chief guest. Known Qawal Sher Miandad will perform on the occasion. Kot Mithan Sharif shrines' Sijjada Nasheen Khawaja Moenuddin Koreja will be the chief guest on the third day of Urs and the closing ceremony will be addressed by Syed Aminul Hassnaat of Bhairah Sharif, Mufti Ghulam Mustafa Rizvi, Allama Nazir Ahmed Qureshi, Moulana Fatehuddin Chishti and others.
The PTCL authorities have established a public call office and health department established special camps at the shrine to provide medical facilities to the devotees.