About Sakhi Sarvar and all.

Gugga Pir:

The cult of Gugga (popularly known as Gugga Zahir Pir) is prevalent throughout northern India. He is worshipped in the month of Bhadon (August-September), especially on the ninth day (naumi) of that month. Bhadon follows the rainy month of Savanh. The weather is both hot and humid which is ideal for all kinds of growth. The growth of damp vegetation provides the perfect conditions for swarms of insects, large patches of mold, and dangerous bacteria mat affect various skin diseases. Under the cover of the vegetation snakes emerge from the ground and feed on the insects,.

Gugga. a snake deity, i: not only worshipped to prevent the harmful bites of snakes, but also to ward off skin diseases. His bards, called Saviy3s, are almost always from among the Chuhra caste, and beg in his name, going from door to door singing legends and asking for alms. Because of the low social status of these people, this rite falls outside the traditional Hindu constructions of punty and pollution. During the time of Gugga ; festival, society entrusts its well-being in the "impure". The Saviyas create the standard markings (nishan^) of Gugga—long bamboo sticks decorated with colorful clothes and peacock feathers made to look like a broom—from the money they receive  alms. On the ninth dsy of Bhadon. this nishan is taken through the streets of the villages in procession with drums beating. At the shrine, the villagers meet and bring snake like noodles made of dough (.sevian) as offerings, and scoop earth (with kadhand) seven times before entering his shrine. The shrines are often located at the boundary of the village. If mere is no shrine in a particular village, they often treat anthills as places of Gugga and pour some milk over it.

Upon entering the shrine to Gugga his devotees first bow (matha teknhd) and offer whatever they have brought. They sit for some time among other devotees (chaunki bharnd) while the Sa\iyas continuously sing the legends of Gugga and his associates. The priest (bhagai) of the shrine sits near the nishan and tends to the tire (dhunha) which bums throughout the night. Some of the devotees become possessed resulting in wild howling and shrieking. In more extreme cases they beat themselves with chharhh, which are made of iron chains tied to 3 handle. Much like the nishan. these chharhh look like a broomstick. Both the nishan and chharhh use the symbolism of the broom to suggest a sweeping away of all pollution. Gugga Pir. through these possessed people, offers boons such as sons and protection from snakebites.

However, it is not just the annual festival in which Gugga is worshipped and boons are given. At any time during the year if someone suffers from snakebite, or some skin disease, their family goes to the shrine and the above-described ritual; are performed. For example, if one is bitten by a snake or has a skin disease caused by snake venom the afflicted is prescribed to sleep on earth and the family will prepare a dish of karhah. After offering a portion at the shrine mis is distributed to the community in Gugga ; name. If snakes continue to pester the family in the house after this act of devotion, then milk mixed with water (kachi laisi) is sprinkled on the ground to further appease Gugga Pir.

Sitala Mata:

The cult of Mata Ram or Sitala Mata. the goddess of smallpox, is widespread throughout India.~^J Some scholars have traced her cult back to the Harappan civilization because one of the Harappan seals depicts seven girls with long ponytails. These seven sisters are associated with various ailments and live in trees: the nim (azdirachta indicd). the kikar {acacia arabica), and the jand (prosopis zpecigerd). Sitala also resides at the edges of ponds, and perhaps her name, Sitala. the cool-one, comes from her water-like ability to cool the burning pustules of smallpox. It is by these nim trees and ponds that shrines to Sitala commonly spring up. They are not managed by any priest and thus remain in varying states of disrepair. "* The following section details the practices surrounding her worship.

Sitala may be worshipped any time throughout the year or whenever she reminds people of her presence through her displeasure, which would manifest itself as a smallpox outbreak and children would be most vulnerable. However, there are some fixed times when her worship is particularly important, like in the month of Chet (March-April) when she is worshipped early in the morning and on the first three days of the week. During Chet, seasons are changing and children are particularly prone to catching various illnesses, including smallpox. As Chet is the beginning of the spring season (Basant) Sitala is also know as Basanti. In some communities, the day of annual worship is more fixed:^-'' She is worshipped on the eighth day of Chet (Sitala ashiami) in some communities, and the sixth day of Magh (Sitala chhati) in others.

In addition to the annual worship, mere are also days of the lunar month that are important. In Punjab, the day of worship is a local decision, as she is worshipped on Mondays. Tuesdays. Wednesdays, and Fridays and at various places. Whatever day the community chooses, it is important that every week the proper rituals are performed. This wide variation in days suggests that the real importance of her worship is seasonal.

During these annual rites, the most common offerings are stale food (basarhiari) and grains soaked overnight in water. Offerings of fowl. pigs, and he-goats are also not uncommon. The offering of stale food is a reversal of the kinds of offerings given to the deities in institutionalized religions. This prohibition on fresh food may come from the belief that Sitala. the cool one should not be heated, thus all cooking is avoided on the day she is to be worshipped, necessitating the offering of previously cooked food.

Annual and weekly worship are preventative measures to keep Sitala happy. However, once someone is taken ilk no matter what time of year or of the week, there must be immediate attempts to satisfy the enraged goddess (who is said to be burning) by cooling her down. The infected person is euphemistically said to be a slave of the goddess (mora da gola) and smallpox is called the mothers grace (mala di mehar). This reversal of terminology, the ironic use of words to describe this horrible disease, avoids angering her further. According to Rose: If a child is suffering from a mild attack [of smallpox], the disease is called shukar [which Rose wrongly identifies as the planet Venus, but which is more likely 3 reference to fever] and gur [a "hot" food] is placed under 3 gharhvanji ਘੜਵੰਜੀ. or stand on which pitchers [of water] are kept [i.e. the coolest place in the house], and songs are sung. This is termed namrakha. or naming the disease.27

This is of great importance as one must know which goddess is manifesting herself in the victim to determine what entities to propitiate. Some violation of the natural order offends the deity and she chooses some person as a medium to express her displeasure, and the goal of curative rituals is to reestablish order and balance.

When the deity is angry she cannot be treated or approached in a routine manner. First, conciliatory and mediatory moves are initiated: songs are sung in her praise, she invoked as great and all-powerful, her kindness is highlighted: her mercy is accentuated. Offerings follow this verbal mollification. When curing a child, a lock of hams taken and offered to the goddess. One way of the cure is to nail the hair to a tree, where the goddess inhabits the hair and is subsequently exorcised and affixes to the tree, hopefully relieving the child of smallpox.

While performing the rituals of cure in one's home. Brahmins are not allowed to enter, a complete reversal of what we would expect from Hindu tradition, in that the disregard for the power of the Brahmin appeases the folk deity. This is similar to the cult of Gugga where the caste system has also been inverted. Other rituals of cure for Sitala's folk cult include the mother and afflicted child sleeping on the earth, cooked rice given as alms, young err Is (kanjkan) being worshipped and fed cooked rice; the mother of an afflicted child keeping a fast on Monday, the mother pouring buttermilk on the nim tree.

Sakhi Sarvar:

The cult of Sakhi Sarvar (also known as Lalanvala Pir, Lakhdat3. Rohiwala. Nigahewala. Sakhi Sultan, and Kaki Ghoriwakt) is woven around the story of a Muslim pir worshipped for the protection of animals and children from diseases.'" In East Punjab, his popularity has been dwindling as many of his most important shrines are in West Punjab now. But he is still of great interest and is worshiped by Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs alike. Thus, like Gugga and Sitala. he crosses the boundaries of institutionalized religion. The life, related legends, and miracles of Sakhi Sarvar are discussed in more detail in an earlier work.

Unlike Gugga Pir and Sitala Mata. Sakhi Sarvar is supposed to have been of human birth: Sayyid Ahmad, son of a twelfth century migrant to Shahkot who married a local Khokhar Jat woman, the daughter of the village headman. Sayyid Ahmad's childhood was not spectacular, but as he reached the age in when he would inherit the family business and property, his maternal cousins became jealous. For reasons related to the inheritance dispute Sayyid Ahmad was forced to leave Shahkot. and he traveled to Baghdad.

In Baghdad he was adopted by a Sufi order, where he excelled a; a student and practitioner. It was in this context that he obtained great spiritual merit miraculous powers, and became the great Sufi saint Sakhi Sarvar.

He returned to Shahkot to much fanfare as stories of his miracles had spread far and wide, further angering his maternal cousins. Stories of their plotting to embarrass, ruin, or even kill him—and his miraculous thwarting of these villainous designs—serve as the core of his legends. He survived encounters with deadly lions, made crops grow on barren land, saved ailing cattle, and generally won over the hearts of the people and rulers despite the competing efforts of his maternal cousins. The legends also sing of the holy man's granting of sons, and good crops, wealth, resurrection of the dead, and protection.

Before the partition of Punjab in 1947. there were shrines to Sakhi Sarvar in almost every village. These shrines have diminished, especially in East Punjab, but the central shrine at Nigaha in district Dehra Gazi Khan, West Punjab, continues to thrive. According to Rose:

The buildings of the shrine consist o£ Sakhi Sarvar's tomb on the west and a shrine associated with Baba Nanak on the norm-west. On the east is an apartment containing the stool and spinning wheel of Mai Aeshan. Sakhi Sarvar's mother. Near there is a Thakurdwara, and in another apartment is an image of Bhairon. The shrine is approached by a defile, at whose entrance is a cliff some SO feet high . . .x

Other important shrines are at Daunkal, Lahore, and Peshawar, where festivals are held to commemorate the miracles of the :amt. He is sometimes found with Gugg Pir or with other deities in a grouping.

Pilgrimage is the most important pattern of worship associated with the cult of Sakhi Sarvar. Pilgrimage to the shrine in Nigaha was quite common before the Partition. The restrictions on travel have replaced this by smaller pilgrimages to local shrines. Pilgrims move in groups (sangs), refer to each other as brothers (bharai), and sleep on the ground together. Once the shrine is reached, offering; of cash, bread, and packets of salt are placed before the saint' In rimes of great need, devotees will sacrifice a goat to the saint. In return for such devotion, it is believed that Sakhi Sarvar fulfills devotees' wishes. The power of the saint is particularly effective for the protection of animals and children and the granting of sons to infertile couples.

The rituals and ceremonies surrounding Sakhi Sarvar are losing popularity in East Punjab. It may be attributable to people's inability to make pilgrimage to his main shrines in West Punjab. However, worship of other pirs, like Naugaza. is replacing patterns of the worship associated with Sakhi Sarvar. A comparative study of changing worship patterns during last five decades remains to be done.

( This article is based on an article "Folk Practices of Punjab by H S Bhatti.) for the knowledge and information on the source for the studies  and reserach, The source has been displayed as above.