Sakhi Sarwar

This article is about a locality in Pakistan. For the Muslim saint who gave the name to the place, see Syed Ahmad Sultan.
Sakhi Sarwar
سخی سرور
Town
Sakhi Sarwar

Location in Pakistan

Coordinates: 29°58′45″N 70°18′21″E / 29.97917°N 70.30583°E / 29.97917; 70.30583Coordinates: 29°58′45″N 70°18′21″E / 29.97917°N 70.30583°E / 29.97917; 70.30583
Country  Pakistan
Province Punjab
District Dera Ghazi Khan District
Time zone PST (UTC+5)
 • Summer (DST) +6 (UTC)

Sakhi Sarwar (Urdu, Saraiki, Punjabi: سخی سرور) is a town in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Pakistan. It is named after a Muslim Sufi saint Syed Ahmad Sultan, also known as Sakhi Sarwar, whose tomb is situated in the vicinity.

The tomb itself was built in the 13th century in a small village named Muqam in the Sulaiman Mountains, 35 kilometres (22 mi) from Dera Ghazi Khan city. It was later expanded by the Mughal king Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur. It is a unique building of Mughal architecture.

An urs, or festival in the honour of Syed Ahmad Sultan, also locally called "Sangh Mela", has been celebrated for centuries during Vaisakhi (March–April), with thousands of pilgrims coming to the town from the nearby localities. Historically, followers of Syed Ahmad Sultan belonged to various religions – Max Arthur Macauliffe, 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) in the honour Syed Ahmad Sultan, a twin suicide attack left 112 dead and almost two hundred injured.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=13597
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