Mela Chiraghan starts tomorrow

LAHORE: The three-day annual Urs of Hazrat Shah Hussain, popularly known as Madhu Lal Hussain, will start at his shrine at Baghbanpura on Saturday (tomorrow). The Urs celebrations will begin by laying traditional chadar on the grave of the sufi saint.

During the Urs, also called Mela Chiraghan (festival of lights), Mehfil-e-Samaa and Mehfil-e-Naat will be held. Other religious and spiritual meetings would also be held and ulema/mushaikh would shed light on the teachings of Hazrat Madhu Lal Hussain.

The Mela Chiraghan marks the Urs (death anniversary) of the Punjabi poet and Sufi saint Shah Hussain (1538-1599) who lived in Lahore. The festival takes place at the shrine of Shah Hussain at Baghbanpura, outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens. The festival also used to take place in the Shalimar Gardens until President Ayub Khan ordered against it in 1958. In the past, peasants, Mughal rulers, Punjabi Sikh residents of Lahore and even the British officers during their British Raj used to show up at the festival. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh (1780-1839) had high respect for the 16th century sufi saint Shah Hussain.

In the early half of the 19th century, during the Sikh rule in Punjab, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh used to lead a procession from Lahore Fort to this festival site. The Punjab government has announced local holiday on March 30 for the Urs.