Field guides / Punjab / Shrine of Baba Farid, Pakpattan
Field guide · Heritage
Shrine of Baba Farid, Pakpattan
The 13th-century dargah of Baba Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakar, seat of the Chishti Sufi order and resting place of Punjab's first great classical poet.
The Shrine of Baba Farid holds the tomb of Baba Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakar, a 13th-century Chishti Sufi saint and the first major poet of the Punjabi language. Its white-marble dargah includes the Bahishti Darwaza, the "Gate of Paradise," opened to the public only once a year during the annual urs, which draws an estimated two million devotees. The site's central role in Chishti Sufism places it alongside Data Darbar and the Sikh gurdwaras already covered here as one of Punjab's essential pilgrimage stops.
Why go
- ✦Seat of the Chishti Sufi order in Pakistan
- ✦Tomb of Punjab's first classical poet
- ✦The Bahishti Darwaza, opened once a year
- ✦Annual urs draws an estimated two million devotees
The First Voice of Punjabi Poetry
Baba Farid's verses, later collected alongside those of Sikh gurus in the Guru Granth Sahib, are considered the earliest substantial body of Punjabi-language poetry, giving the shrine a literary as well as spiritual significance shared across faiths.
The Gate of Paradise
The Bahishti Darwaza opens only once a year during the urs, and passing through it is considered deeply auspicious, drawing the bulk of the roughly two million annual pilgrims into a single narrow window of days.
Planning tip
When to go, Year-round for a standard visit; the annual urs is the busiest and most significant time to visit, but plan for very large crowds.
Getting there, Central Pakpattan, in southern Punjab between Sahiwal and Bahawalnagar.
Allow, 45 minutes to an hour outside the urs; a full day if attending the urs itself.
What to do
Nearby
Nothing else genuinely close by (within 30 km) is published yet.