On the occasion of the 395th annual 'Urs' or the festival of the famous Sufi saint Hazrat Baba Naseeb Ud Din Ghazi (RA), several devotees in Bijbehara and adjoining areas of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district celebrated the day, following COVID-19 protocols.
The mausoleum of the saint is situated in Bijbehara town of Anantnag. The shrine of a the Sufi saint is famous for the exhibition of Sufi dance also known as Dhamali dance. During the celebration, the devotees performed this traditional dance,mindful not to flout COVID norms.
Baba Naseeb was born in Kashmir when his father returned from Rawalpindi. He attained his spiritual teachings from Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoomi (RA) at the age of seven. Later, Hazrat Makhdoomi handed over Baba Naseeb to Hazrat Sheikh Dawood Khaki.
Baba Naseeb was a Sufi saint, preacher of brotherhood and worked for humanity. He was an able Kashmiri and Persian writer and has written about 22 books mostly in Arabic and Persian. Women, men and children and youths paid obeisance and offered special prayers at the shrine which resounded with recitations of verses of Holy Quran. He spread the message of love, affection and brotherhood.
Ghulam Rasool, a member of the Shrine Committee reiterated the values of Baba Naseeb and said, "He spent his life for the people. He worked in the welfare of the people and was a humanitarian. He promoted brotherhood."
The annual Urs was celebrated according to Islamic or Lunar calendar.
Eijaz Gul, a resident of Bijbehara toldthat not many people joined the celebration due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Less people came here due to COVID-19. Before this, many people used to come here from far-off villages. Earlier, at least a thousand people gathered here to celebrate the festival however, due to the pandemic, only 500-600 people came this year," he said.
The devotees prayed for peace and prosperity of the whole country and also prayed that pandemic is over so that they can live peacefully.
Raja, a devotee at the shrine also emphasized that the footfall was less this year.
"Not many people came here today. Only some joined us from the adjoining villages. We prayed for the virus to vanish from the surface of the Earth," he said.
In the midst of the pandemic, the authorities directed organizing committee to celebrate this festival with low affair. Celebrations only outside the shrine were permitted for two days and few devotees were allowed to enter Shrine premises. During normalcy 'Urs' lasted for four days.
( With inputs from ANI )
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