Dera Ghazi Khan District
Dera Ghazi Khan (Urdu and pnb, , Saraiki: , bal, ڈیرہ غازی خان) is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its capital is the town of Dera Ghazi Khan. Most of its inhabitants are Saraikis and Baloch.
The district lies t ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
Syed Ahmad Sultan
Syed Ahmad Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar, (1120 – 1181) was a 12th-century Sufi saint of the Punjab region.Folk Religion Change and Continuity by H S Bhatti Rawat Publications
He is also known by various other appellation ...
, also known as Sakhi Sarwar, whose
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
is situated in the vicinity.
The tomb itself was built in the 13th century in a small village named Muqam in the
Sulaiman Mountains
The Sulaiman Mountains, also known as Kōh-e Sulaymān ( Balochi/Urdu/ fa, ; "Mountains of Solomon") or Da Kasē Ghrūna ( ps, د كسې غرونه; "Mountains of Kasi"), are a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system i ...
, from
Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan (), abbreviated as D.G. Khan, is a city in the southwestern part of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population. Lying west of the Indus River, it is the headquarters of Dera Ghazi Khan District and ...
urs
Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or ''Urus'' (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc ...
'', or festival in the honour of Syed Ahmad Sultan, also locally called "Sangh Mela", has been celebrated for centuries during
Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi ( Punjabi: ), also pronounced Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, o ...
(March–April), with thousands of pilgrims coming to the town from the nearby localities. First they visit to the shrine of syed sakhi Zain ul Abdieen at Lar Multan to pay Salam or homage to the parents of Sakhi Sarwar, than they go to Dera Ghazi Khan.Sarwaris love the belongings of the saint, specially the Mohar Mubarak.Historically, followers of Syed Ahmad Sultan belonged to various religions –
Max Arthur Macauliffe
Michael MacAuliffe, also known as Max Arthur Macauliffe (11 September 1838 − 15 March 1913) and Max Singh Metcalfe, was a senior British administrator, prolific scholar and author. MacAuliffe is renowned for his partial translation of Sikh sc ...
, a colonial office appointed in Punjab, observed in 1875 that not only Muslims but Hindus also visited the shrines during the ''urs''.
On 3 April 2011, at the annual festival (''
urs
Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or ''Urus'' (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc ...
'') in the honour Syed Ahmad Sultan, a twin suicide attack left 112 dead and almost two hundred injured.https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/amp/296565-mastermind-of-sakhi-sarwar-carnage-held-from-taunsa, The News International newspaper, Published 19 April 2011, Retrieved 24 June 2017
Punjabi folk religion Folk practices prevalent in Punjab incorporate local mysticism and refers to the beliefs and practices strictly indigenous to the Punjabi people, of the Punjab region including ancestral worship, veneration of saints, and local festivals. There are ...
*
Dhaunkal
Dhaunkal (Urdu, Punjabi ), is a town and Union Council in Wazirabad Tehsil, Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located on the Lahore-Islamabad Highway, 28 kilometres from the district capital Gujranwala and about 15 kilometres from G ...
* Bharai, a Muslim community found in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in India
* Mukandpur a village near Banga, Nawanshahr district (also known as Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar, in Punjab, India. The village has an annual mela in honour of Sakhi Sarwar.
* Lakhpur a village near Sahni (Lakhpur-Sahni), Tehsil Phagwara, Kapurthala district, in Punjab, India. The village has a shrine in honour of Sakhi Sarwar who is referred to a Baba Lakhadata Ji.