430th Festival of Lights takes place in Lahore

Описание: (26 Mar 2018) LEADIN
The 430th Festival of Lights has taken place in Lahore.
Devotees come to the event, at the shrine of Sufi poet and saint Madho Lal Hussain, to have their prayers answered.
STORYLINE
Dancing and playing musical instruments, these devotees are here to celebrate the life of 15th century poet and saint Madho Lal Hussain.
The three-day Festival of Lights is in its 430th year and takes place at his shrine on the Grand Trunk Road, Baghbanpura in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.
Tahira Yasmeen is from Lahore and came to participate in the festival along with her family:
"We people come every year," she says.
"Here, both ladies and gents come in pursuit of wishes. Whatever they seek in their prayers is accepted. And thanks to Allah, whatever one begs from Allah in prayer is fulfilled."
One of the most significant parts of the event is the ritual of lighting candles at a huge bonfire. Devotees then toss them in and hope to have their prayers answered.
"I prayed for the birth of my daughter and thanks to Allah my wish came true and almighty Allah blessed me with a daughter. And that is why whoever comes here, they come with their hidden desires," says another festival goer, Rana Husnain Rasool, from the town of Jhelo near the Pakistan India border.
People come from every religion and every corner of Pakistan to attend this colourful festival. Devotees sing Sufi songs and dance to drums and Sufi tunes. They also recite Kafis (Sufi poems) written by Lal Hussain.
Inam Ullah Khan travelled from Karachi to attend the festival and says people have been visiting for centuries because of the peaceful message behind it.
"This is an almost four hundred and fifty years old tomb. People used to come here from that time, they used to give a peaceful message to everyone. And that was not for any religion concerned with it. They were only humanity, humanity and nothing else."
The shrine is famous for respect for every religion since, besides the shrine of saint Lal Hussain, there is a grave of a Hindu boy 'Madho', for whom the saint held great affection.
This year security has been tightened as Jamaatul Ahrar, a terror network with close associations to the Islamic State group, has already carried out attacks at several other shrines.
A 2017 suicide attack at the annual Lal Shehbaz Qaladar gathering in the eastern Sindh province of Pakistan, claimed more than 80 lives.

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