Shadani Darbar, Hayat Pitafi
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A backgrounder
Yashee, Nov 23, 2022: The Indian Express
Pakistan issued 100 visas to Indian pilgrims to allow them to participate in the 314th birth anniversary celebrations of Shiv Avtari Satguru Sant Shadaram Sahib, in Sindh province. The pilgrims will visit Shadani Darbar in Hayat Pitafi from November 22 to December 3.
Under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, pilgrims from both countries are allowed to travel to some shrines across the border every year.
Kaka Kailash Jot, part of the Shadani Darbar team to welcome the Indians, told indianexpress.com that 99 pilgrims had arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, and were welcomed by a party of around 100, from different cities in Pakistan.
What is the Shadani Darbar, and why does it hold significance for Indian pilgrims?
Shadani Darbar
Located in Hayat Pitafi, Ghotki district, Shadani Darbar is believed to be the biggest Hindu temple in Pakistan’s Sindh province. It was founded in 1786 by Sant Shadaram Sahib, whose anniversary the pilgrims have travelled to celebrate.
Jot said his family has been Shadani Darbar disciples for four generations. “I was born in Hayat Pitafi. My father has written several books about the Darbar’s history. This temple has always attracted a large number of devotees, including Muslims. Sindh has a 1,000-year-old history of religions flourishing and being respected.”
Jot was born in Hayat Pitafi, and now lives in the nearby town of Daharki. He said the Indian pilgrims, apart from visiting Shadani Darbar, will travel to shrines in Jarwar, Adilpur, Khanpur Mehar, among others, and also visit the Nankana Sahib.
“While their travel, accommodation, etc. will be taken care of by the Shadani Darbar, the Pakistan government will provide them adequate security,” Jot said.
Sant Shadaram Sahib and other ‘gaddisars’
According to the temple’s website, Sant Shadaram was born in a Lohana khatri family in Lahore in October 1708. He is believed to be the descendent of Lord Ram’s son, Lav, and also an avatar of Lord Shiva.
Since the age of 20, he travelled to various holy places, such as Haridwar, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Amarnath, Ayodhya, and the Pashupathinath Temple in Nepal. In 1768, he reached Mathelo, the capital of Sindh during the reign of Raja Nand, where he built a Shiv temple and “enlightened the sacred holy fire (Dhuni Sahib)”, the website says.
“After sometime he left his temple of village Mathelo along with his devotees and settled nearest another holy village in Hayat Pitafi and laid the foundation of Shadani Darbar. Thou got dug one sacred well and enlightened one “Holi Fire” known as “Dhuni Sahib”,” the website adds.
It is believed that anyone who takes the blessings of the Dhuni Sahib and drinks the water of the well is delivered from his sufferings and misfortunes. Even today, the annual celebrations at Shadai Darbar include ‘agni pooja’, or fire worship. Also, mass weddings are organised, where well-off devotees provide dowry and gifts for financially weak couples. “The celebrations will also see the recitation of the Gita, the Ramayana and the Guru Granth Sahib,” Jot said.
After Sant Shadaram, the darbar has seen eight other ‘gaddisars’, or heads. The current, ninth gaddisar is Dr Yudhister Lal, who lives primarily in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. His wife, Mata Deepika, is from Jalna in Maharashtra.
The fifth gaddisar was a woman, Mata Sahib Hassi Devi, who took over the post in 1852.
While all the gaddisars are believed to possess great spiritual powers, there is an interesting story about the sixth, Satguru Sant Manglaram Sahib.
According to the temple’s website, “In 1930 due to the divide and rule policy of the British government, local Muslims were instigated by the rulers to harass, loot and kill Hindus Muslims.” But “Sant Manglaram sahib mixed holy dust (Dhuni Sahib) and water” and threw it around the boundaries of Hayat Pitafi. As a result of this, when the aggressors crossed into the village, they became blind. They gained back their eyesight as soon as they exited the village. “In this way people of Hayat Pitafi [were] saved by the Miracle of Sant Manglaram Sahib,” the website says.
The 1974 India-Pakistan Protocol
Under the protocol, pilgrims from both countries get visas to visit certain religious shrines without having to go through the usual immigration process. The pilgrims can travel only in groups and the number of such groups is fixed each year.
Fifteen shrines in Pakistan and five in India are covered under this protocol. The shrines in Pakistan are: Gurudwara Shri Nankana Sahib (Rawalpindi); Gurudwara Shri Panja Sahib (Rawalpindi); Samadhi of Maharaj Ranjit Singh (Lahore); Gurudwara Shri Dera Sahib (Lahore); Gurudwara Janam Asthan (Lahore); Gurudwara Deewan Khana (Lahore); Gurudwara Shaheed Ganj, Singhanian (Lahore); Gurudwara Bhai Tara Singh (Lahore); Gurudwara of Sixth Guru, Mozang, (Lahore); Birthplace of Shri Guru Ram Das (Lahore); Gurudwara Cheveen Padshahi, Mozang (Lahore); Shrine at Sree Katasraj; Shadani Darbar, Hyat Pitafi (Sindh); Sadhu Bela, Khanpur and Mirpur Mathelo (Sindh); Shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (Lahore).
In India, the protocol covers Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer), Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi), Hazrat Amir Khusro (Delhi), Hazrat Mujaddid Alf Sani (Sirhind Sharif, Punjab) and Hazrat Khwaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir (Kalyar Sharif).
