BHIT SHAH: A large number of devotees converged at Bhit Shah from all over the country today to participate in the Urs Celebrations of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai here.
Governor of Sindh Imran Ismail visited the Mazar of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and laid a floral wreath on his grave.
One of the significant features of the celebrations is spiritual dance Dhammal performed after sunset by both male and female devotees as the venue reverberated with Naqqara (huge drum) beating. This is how psychosomatic maladies are treated en-masse. Rural womenfolk, by means of this pilgrimage manage to get away from the ordinary.
For most of them it is nothing less then a journey and experience of lifetime that provides an opportunity for cathartic outpouring. The government of Sindh had announced a public holiday on 14th of October on the occasion of Urs of revered saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.
A relevant piece published earlier:
Minister directs to ensure adequate arrangement on Shah Bhitai’s Urs
HYDERABAD: Sindh Minister for Culture, Tourism and Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah has asked the officers of all concerned departments to ensure adequate arrangements for celebrations of three-day annual Urs celebration of a great Sufi saint and poet Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai to commence from 24th October 2018, at Bhitshah district Matiari.
The Minister issued such directives while presiding over a meeting here in Shahbaz Hall on Monday which reviewed the arrangements of three-day annual Urs celebration of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. The meeting, which attended among others by Sajjada Nasheen Dargah Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Syed Waqar Shah Latifi, Nazan Sain, Sindh Secretary Culture Akbar Leghari and Commissioner Hyderabad Muhammad Abbas Baloch, has reviewed at length the arrangement of facilitating tens of thousands devotees including the security measures in order to avert any untoward incident during urs celebration.
The Minister directed the officers of the Police department to ensure foolproof security arrangements including the installation of CCTV cameras, walk through gates as well body and vehicles search equipment so that peaceful atmosphere could be provided to devotees. He also asked the curbing of the tendency of anti-social activities during the urs.
The Minister directed the officers of the health department to set up medical camps with the availability of round the clock medical, paramedical staff, sufficient quantity of medicines and a reasonable number of ambulances in order to provide adequate medical facility to the devotees. The Minister also directed the filling of Karrar Lake with fresh water, lighting in and outside the premises of dargah, installation of street lights, cleanliness with the proper drainage system. He also advised the management of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company to avoid load shedding during the Urs celebrations and also asked the officers concerned to arrange standby generators in order to recover the power outage if occurred.
The Minister also asked the Director Information Sindh Hyderabad to prepare a comprehensive media plan for effective coverage of all activities of the Urs celebrations. He also directed the officers of livestock departments to allow best and precious animals in the cattle show. The participants of the meeting including Sindh Secretary Culture and Commissioner Hyderabad also briefed the Minister about the proposed plan of the Urs celebrations while SSP Matiari gave details of the security plan along with arrangements of vehicles parking and smooth flow of traffic on National Highway.
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