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The six-day Urs festival recreates the memory of those six days
during which Khwaja Hasan Chisti retired to his personal quarters
for prayer and meditation till he breathed his last. The Urs
festival celebrations are inaugurated by Sajjada Nashin, a descendant
of the Chisti family.
The Sajjada Nashin hoists a pure white flag atop the Dargah
dome followed by the ghusal ritual during which the grave
of the great saint is washed with rose water and anointed
with sandalwood paste, ghee and incense.
Pilgrims come from far and wide to pay homage to their beloved
saint and seek his blessings. Special poetry recitation sessions
are conducted in the Mehfil Khana located within the Dargah
premises.
Pilgrims carry chadars, roses, jasmines, gilaph and neema
offerings on their heads to the door of the main Dargah where
these are handed over to khadims who offer these to the saint's
tomb.
An important ritual that marks the Urs festival celebrations
is the cooking of the sacred kheer or milk pudding that is
later distributed to the devotees who throng the grave. The
best part of the Urs festival is that all the while devotees
come and go and the various rituals are being performed, a
set of musicians or Qawwals, sit on a raised platform outside
the dargah and sing devotional songs or Qawwalis.
The final day of Urs ends with the ghusal ceremony followed
by Fatiha and Salamti prayers, poetry competitions and bursting
of firecrackers.
Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti was a Persian fakir
who began the Chistia fakir sect in India and is considered
as the messenger of Allah by the Muslims.
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