SUKKUR: Several hundred Hindu devotees from across Sindh and Balochistan, as well as some parts of India, thronged Sadhu Bela (or Sadhu Belo in Sindhi and Hindi) to participate in the 152nd annual festival of Baba Bankhandi Maharaj Yatra which began on Tuesday evening at the historical temple situated on an islet in the Indus River near Sukkur.

The three-day festival started with the recitation from the Gita and the Guru Granth Sahib in the temple, surrounded by scores of food stalls, medical camps and outlets displaying religious souvenirs, literature and worship objects.

The Sadhu Bela temple committee in coordination with the evacuee trust department has made many boats available to the visiting devotees for their transportation from different points in Sukkur to the islet.

The district administration has made stringent security arrangements for the devotees and their hosts by deploying police units at the temple and along the route of the pilgrimage in Sukkur.

A prominent religious figure of India, Gauri Shankar, along with a group of his followers, was also scheduled to arrive in Pakistan to participate in the festival for the first time in the 150-year history of the yatra.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2015

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