LAHORE : The 435th urs of Madho Lal Hussain, also known as Mela Chiraghan (festival of lights), commenced at the shrine of 16th century Sufi saints and poets Madho Lal Hussain at Baghbanpura here on Saturday.
The 3-day festivities includes qawwalis, sufi music, dance on the beats of drums, widespread bonfire by lightening of thousands of earthen lamps around the shrine and a large variety of eateries for the visitors. Thousands of devotees from around the country gathered at the shrine near Shalimar Garden to pay tributes to the 16th century sufi saint and poet Shah Hussain and his close friend Madho Lal, whose names are remembered as Madho Lal Hussain.
The central attraction of the event is the large bonfire at the shrine where people throw candles, oils and terra-cotta lamps (chiragh) as they believe it would fulfill their wishes, thus giving it the name ‘Mela Chiraghan’. The fire remains lit for the entire duration of the urs. Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs Barrister Azfar Ali Nasir inaugurated the event by laying the floral wreath at the shrine, offered fateha and special prayers for the security and solidarity of the country. Religious Affairs DG and officials of Auqaf Dept were also present. The urs festivities were dominated by malangs coming from all over the country who sing and dance on the drumbeats, often intoxicated and seemingly oblivious to whatever was happening around them. Large number of devotees also joined in their dance from time to time. Marijuana and hashish addicts come from far off places to enjoy a free gift of their most sought after item and enjoy it with other fellows. The police seemed to ignore them thought the heavy soot of narcotics often make devotees and visitors feel nausea and some of them also throw up. Apart from marijuana being provided to many malangs free of cost yet, glasses of Bhang (cannabis) drinks were sold to the visitors. Many drug users consider it a three-day paradise for them and the celebrations are actually meant for them. They say they only ‘serve the community’ by providing them with momentarily relief from worries. The security around the shrine was strict. The visitors were allowed into the shrine through a single entrance. Large number of policemen were on duty around the shrine under the supervision of two DSPs and the Civil Lines SP. The devotees passed through walk-through gates but the scanners were not working. The visitors were being frisked by police and Auqaf guards. For children, a number of swings and merry go rounds were put besides the traditional food items.