Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

Sayyid Uthman al-Marwandi , popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, was a Sufi saint and poet who is revered in South Asia.
Born in Marwand, Sistan, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar eventually settled in Sindh and is revered by the local Sindhi population.

Names

He is called Lal because he used to wear red, his favorite color; "Shahbaz" to denote a noble and divine spirit; and "Qalandar" as he was a wandering spiritual man.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is sometimes called Jhulelal. The term Jhulelal means "red bridegroom". There are various legends why he was called thus. According to the Garland Encyclopedia, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was referred to as Jhulelal because he was promised marriage to a daughter of his friend, but the friend died and later his friend's son refused to allow the agreed upon marriage, which caused Lal Shahbaz Qalandar to grief.
Another legend relates the name to Jhulelal, a Sindhi deity, whose abode is river Indus. As per Dalrymple, Jhulelal name and legend go together. It was passed down to local Muslim devotees of the saint, many still believe like Jhulelal, Lal Shahbaz controls ebb and flow of Indus and thus name.

Life

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, son of Sayyid Ibrahim Kabiruddin al-Jawabi, was born in Marwand to a Sayyid family from Baghdad, Iraq. He later settled in Sehwan, Sindh under the reign of the Ghaznavid and Ghurids.
A contemporary of Rumi, he travelled around the Muslim world and settled in Sehwan, Sindh where he was eventually buried. There is evidence of his presence in Sindh in 1196 when he met Pir Haji Ismail Panhwar of Paat and he is believed to have arrived in Sehwan around 1251. There he established a meeting house, taught in the Fuqhai Islam Madarrsah and wrote his treatises Mizan-us-Surf, Kism-e-Doyum, Aqd and Zubdah. Lal Shahbaz lived a celibate life.
In Multan, he met Baha-ud-din Zakariya of the Suhrawardiyya order, Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar of the Chishtiyya and Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari. The friendship of these four became legendary. They were known as the Chahar Yar. According to some historians, the four friends visited various parts of Sindh and Punjab.
This was also the time period when Ghiyas ud din Balban ruled India.
It is said Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a tough ascetic. When he arrived in Sehwan, there was a shaivites cult of ascetics. He joined the ascetics, was engaged in tapasiya and acts of self-mortification like sitting on a cauldron of fire.
The 19th century spiritual Sufi Manqabat Dama Dam Mast Qalandar is dedicated to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and is widely popular in the sub-continent.

Shrine

The shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1356, expanded by Mirza Jani Beg and his son Mirza Ghazi Beg of the Tarkhan dynasty, but was not completed until 1639, when Nawab Dindar Khan paved the courtyard with glazed tiles. The silver work on the gate, the balustrade around the tomb and the top of the dome was gifted by Mir Karam Ali Talpur of the Talpur dynasty. Later on the shrine was decorated with Sindhi 'kashi-tiles', mirror-work and a gold-plated door was installed by the late Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inner sanctum is about 100 square yards with a silver-canopied grave in the middle, according to Nadeem Wagan, Cutharo silver donated by Sardar Mahboob Ali Khan Wagan on one side of the marble floor is a row of about folding wooden stands, on which there is a set of copies of the Quran for devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of incense, are rows of oil-lamps lighted by devotees. Thousands of devotees visit the tomb particularly every Thursday.

Mela / Urs (Annual Fair)

Lal Shahbaz's annual Urs, held on the 18 Sha'aban – the eighth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, brings more than two million pilgrims from all over Pakistan and parts of India, Bangladesh. Essentially, it is a south Asian affair.

The 2017 terrorist attack

On 16 February 2017, a group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the shrine, which resulted in the deaths of 88 people. The following morning, the shrine's caretaker continued the daily tradition of ringing the shrine's bell at 3:30 A.M. and defiantly vowed that he would not be intimidated by the terrorists. Pakistani government and security forces have also launched a nationwide security crackdown and have recently killed 37 terrorists. The shrine's dhamaal, or meditative dancing ceremony, was resumed the very next evening following the attack.

Dhammal

Dhamaal is a mystical dance of Sindh which is mainly performed by faqirs, dervishs, sufi saints and devotees. The Dhammal of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is quite famous. The main performers would wear all red color Jama and Sindhi Patko, the red is the color of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, which was the favorite color of him, he wore the attire of red color as well, hence the name "Lal" has been given to him which means "Red". Dhammal is characterized by religious fervor. Nagaro, Nobat, Gharyal, Ghugoo instruments etc provide the beat and tempo for the dance.