The Rahim Yar Khan district administration has announced a local public holiday on October 1 to mark the annual Urs of renowned Sufi poet and mystic Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Fareed (R.A).
Deputy Commissioner Khurram Pervez issued a notification stating that all government offices across Rahim Yar Khan will remain closed on October 1. The order clarified that the holiday will not affect ongoing board examinations, banks or other federal institutions.
The Urs of Khawaja Ghulam Fareed is observed each year with devotion, drawing thousands of devotees from across Pakistan to Rahim Yar Khan for commemorative ceremonies and spiritual gatherings.
Khawaja Ghulam Fareed was born in Chacharan Sharif in 1845 and died in the same area in 1901. He was, however, buried at the current location in Kot Mithan. Fareed was associated with the Chishti-Nizami silsila.
Although he is famous for his Seraiki poetry, Fareed knew Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Braj Bhasha as well. Some of his poems in Sindhi, Urdu, Persian, and Braj Bhasha also gained fame.