May 11, 2006

Sheedi Mela is held every year in Manghopir to pay homage to Manghopir Baba. The annual six-day festival of Syed Sakhi Sultan Manghopir Baba starts on April 23 every year, with a grand mela in Sheedi village near the Baba’s mazaar some 20 kilometres north of Karachi. According to an elder belonging to the Lasi tribe, Sheedi Mela has been celebrated for over a century.

On the first day of the festival, the Sheedies living in Kharadar, along with the Sheedies from various parts of Balochistan and the interior of Sindh, dance to the beat of the mugarman (similar to an African drum). This rite is known as maezman, an African word that means ‘beating of the drum’. The drum is played with songs sung by the clan in different languages that resemble Swahili (East African language), Sindhi and Balochi. An animal is sacrificed and its blood is poured on the aastana or altar and on the dhols.

Some men and women dance in the procession and carry a decorated stick in their hands. Dhamal, a dance in which people sometimes go in a trance, follows.

The Sheedi community walk from their village towards the mazaar which is at a distance of one kilometre. The procession includes men, women and children. Barefoot participants, beating drums and performing the dhamal to various African tunes, a sight that is colourful and very unusual to say the least, reach the foothills of the mazaar where crocodiles are housed in a large pond.

At noon, the leaders of the community present meat and some halwa to the oldest crocodile. This is a tradition that has continued for years. If the crocodile accepts the offerings, community members are happy and hug each other because this is a sign that the festival can be continued the next year as well.

After the traditional offering to the crocodile, the procession marches towards the mazaar to lay a chaddar on the tomb of Syed Sakhi Sultan Manghopir Baba before zuhr prayers. On their way, the members of the community chant old proverbs, which have been handed down to them by their elders.

The mela continues for six days and the Lasi, the Hyderabadi and the Belara community of Sheedies, who look forward to this event every year, celebrate this century old tradition with aplomb.

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