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Bulla, How Do You Know Yourself?

By Nur N. Ibrahim

- Devotees tie colored threads around the tree branches in the shrine's courtyard asking the saint to grant their "Mannat". Each thread signifies unfulfilled wishes. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- Women prepare incense beneath the Banyan tree in the shrine courtyard. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- The most fervent devotees of Baba Bulleh Shah wear rings gifted to them by followers of saints from other shrines in other provinces of Pakistan. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- Maddat Ali, a devotee of Baba Bulleh Shah, visits the shrine every day and recieves alms from other visitors. His rings, he claims, were sent from another shrine in Sindh. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- Streamers, flowers and cloth with Quranic verses printed on them, hang in shops outside Baba Bulleh Shah's shrine in Kasur, Pakistan. Pilgrims normally buy these to hang on trees outside the shrine when they pay their respects to the revered saint. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- This old man sits and sings praises of Bulleh Shah outside the shrine while asking for alms. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- Rose and marigold petals decorate the grave of one of the many qawwals who sang praises of the saint Baba Bulleh Shah. By Nur N. Ibrahim

- A qawwal sits outside the shrine playing the harmonium and singing praises of Bulleh Shah's religious devotion. While preaching acceptance and love, Bulleh Shah also used traditional Punjabi love stories like Heer Ranjha, equatable to The Punjabi Romeo and Juliet. He implied universal and divine love, rejecting set notions of rituals and divisive practices: "'When I learned the lesson of love, I got scared of the mosque/I ran into the Hindu seminary where several horns are blown/ There Heer and Ranjha became one/ Heer was mistakenly searching for Ranjha in the jungle while he was right in her lap/ I lost all [worldly] awareness." By Nur N. Ibrahim

Bulleh Shah was an 18th century Sufi saint from Punjab. His poetry, devotional love, acceptance and peace has been sung and re-sung over the centuries. Today, his shrine in Kasur, Pakistan is one of the most visited by Sufi devotees. Usually frequented by the religious devotee, the fakir (wandering mendicant) and the qawwal (singer), it is home to a diverse community, where food is provided to the needy and blessings are sought at the saint's tomb.

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