Schools across Punjab’s provincial capital, Lahore, will remain closed on Monday, August 26, in observance of the urs (death anniversary) of the Sufi saint Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, authorities announced on Friday.
An official notification stated that all public and private schools in Lahore will observe a holiday on the occasion of the urs.
The event is marked annually with three days of ceremonies, beginning tomorrow (Saturday) at the shrine of the revered saint, known as Data Darbar.
Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, a Persian Sufi and scholar from the 11th century, was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 990 AD during the Ghaznavid Empire. He later settled in Lahore, where he spread the spirit of brotherhood through Sufism and eventually passed away.
Every year, hundreds of devotees, including religious scholars and Sufis, gather at Data Darbar—the largest Sufi shrine in South Asia—to participate in the urs.
