MULTAN, March 5: The poetic works of mystic saint and Persian poet Maulana Jalaluddin Roomi has helped the Punjab Archaeology Department to complete conservation of 125-year-old shrine of a saint in Jhang.

Persian verses that had faded from the kashi tiles of the mosque adjacent to Hazrat Shah Sadiq Nehang's shrine have been found in "Masnavi Maulvi Maanvi" by Maulana Roomi after a year-long search.

The department officials now hope to complete the Rs3.15 million conservation project, being funded by the auqaf department, by the end of this year.

Archaeology department Multan camp office in-charge Ghulam Muhammad said some panels of tiles, having Persian verses in kashikari work in traditional blue, were fixed on the exterior of the mosque's back wall. Six of the verses had vanished over the years while one partly survived. "It has enabled the archaeology department to discover the poem in Maulana Roomi's Masnavi, which was admired by Poet of the East Dr Allama Iqbal," he added.

He said work on the Rs3.15 million project, including Rs1.29 million for the shrine, began in July 2000 and was scheduled to be completed in two years. However, conservation work of only shrine could be completed by Jan 15, 2004, and mosque was still under renovation process.

Hazrat Muhammad Shah, better known as Shah Sadiq Nehang, is a saint of Qalandria order. He shifted from Sindh to Jhang during the reign of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

DRAMA FESTIVAL: NGOs and the Women Councillors Network, South Punjab, is holding a drama festival in line with the World Women Day ceremonies on Sunday (today).