MULTAN - Three-day annual 772nd Urs of saint Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Multan commenced here on Saturday. The Urs will continue till January 2. The sajjada nashin (caretaker) of the shrine Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister, inaugurated the urs celebrations with bathing of the grave of the saint with rosewater in presence of ulama-o-mashaikh and thousands of faithful from across the country. Later on, first session of National Zakariya Conference took place on the premises of the shrine while a mehfil-e-sama was also held after Isha prayer.
The second-day proceedings of the urs will begin with the second session of the conference which will be addressed by renowned scholars and clerics. A spokesman said that the sajjada nasheen of darbar Kh. Ghulam Farid Kh. Moen Uddin Koreja, Allama Syed Mazhar Saed Kazmi, Pir Khalid Sultan Qadri and Pir Ameenul Hasanat will chair different sessions.
Meanwhile, the district administration made strict security arrangements for the Urs. Almost all national and provincial departments set up their camps at Qila Qasim Bagh to facilitate the faithful.