Srinagar, Oct 19 (IANS) The annual ‘Urs’ of Kashmir’s patron Sufi saint, Sheikh Nooruddin Wali, started on Sunday in Charar-e-Sharief town of J&K’s Budgam district.

The saint is the founder of the Rishi tradition in Kashmir that transcends religious barriers. Known as “Sheikh-ul-Alam” (Spiritual Guide of the World) and “Alamdar-e-Kashmir” (Flag-bearer of Kashmir) by local Muslims, the saint is known as ‘Nund Rishi’ by the local Hindus.

His cryptic verses are read and recited to date because of their timeless wisdom and enlightenment.

“Aan Poshi Teli Yali Wan Poshi” (Food is subservient to forests and will last only as long as the forests last) is one of them.

Sheikh Nooruddin was born in 1377 and passed away in 1438. The famous King of Kashmir, ‘Budshah’, attended the funeral procession and the last prayers of the saint, which is recorded as the largest attended funeral procession in Kashmir’s history.

He is buried in Charar-e-Sharief town, where a grand mausoleum is built around his grave. The historical old shrine at Charar-e-Sharief was gutted in a devastating fire in 1995 when a Pakistani terror commander, Mast Gul, escaped after a hold-up of over a month inside the town.

Security forces said Mast Gul set the shrine on fire to make good his escape from the town.

In addition to the Sufi saint’s shrine, nearly two-thirds of the Charar town was destroyed in that conflagration. A grand shrine has been rebuilt at Charar-e-Sharief, where thousands of devotees come each year on ‘Urs’ to pray and seek the blessings of Allah at the saint’s shrine.

The saint is known to have travelled throughout the Valley preaching peace and piety. He established a network of followers, the nascent Rishi order, whose core values were simplicity, equality and non-violence.

In his role as patron saint of the Valley, he is credited with making non-violence and religious harmony “the basic characteristics” of Kashmiri society.

His poetry holds a very important position in Kashmir’s ethos, and he is remembered as a bridge between Kashmir’s Shaivism and Sufi heritage.

He outlived his fellow saint-poet Lal Ded, known as Lalleshwari, and tradition holds that her verses and example deeply influenced him.

The largest following of this Sufi Saint is in the countryside, and for this reason, the annual Urs of the saint is celebrated each year after the harvesting season is over in Kashmir.

–IANS

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