LAHORE: The annual Urs of Hazrat Madhu Lal Husain began at his shrine near Shalamar Gardens in Baghbanpura here on Saturday.

The three-day Urs of the Sufi poet is also known as Mela Chiraghan or ‘festival of lamps’ as devotees pay homage to the saint by lighting earthen lamps.

Makeshift stalls selling earrings, bangles, artificial jewellery, flowers, candles, toys, decoration pieces and earthen pots have been set up along the streets leading to the shrine from GT Road.

Food stalls offer traditional delicacies Katlama and sweet pakoras.

A parrot show, the death well and swings have been put up for children adjacent to the shrine.

Punjab Auqaf Department Religious Affairs Director General Dr Tahir Raza Bokhari formally inaugurated the Urs celebrations by performing the chaddar-laying ceremony at the shrine.

Strict security measures have been adopted by the city administration and every visitor is being thoroughly frisked on the roads leading to the shrine.

Mela Chiraghan is held in the last week of March every year.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2016