Waris Shah Urs, Jandiala Sher Khan: Dates and Heer Recitals

The Waris Shah urs is a three-day gathering at Jandiala Sher Khan, about 14 km from Sheikhupura, held each year in the last full week of September. In 2023, 2024 and 2025 it ran from 23 to 25 September, with a local holiday in Sheikhupura district on the middle day. The reason to go is the poetry: the urs is built around Heer, Waris Shah's telling of Heer and Ranjha, sung aloud in the traditional style by reciters who travel in from across Punjab.

This guide is about the urs itself: when it falls, what happens on each day, how Heer is sung, and how to plan a day from Lahore. For the tomb on an ordinary day, see our separate guide to Waris Shah's tomb.

When is the Waris Shah urs?

For the last several years the urs has been held over the same three days, 23 to 25 September. In 2025 the Deputy Commissioner of Sheikhupura declared Wednesday 24 September a local holiday for government and semi-government offices across the district, and the celebrations ended on Thursday 25 September (APP, The Nation).

Unlike most urs dates in Pakistan, this one does not move with the Islamic calendar. An older Dawn feature describes the urs falling in Zul-Hijjah, but it has been fixed on the late-September dates for some years now. If the pattern held, the 2026 urs ran from 23 to 25 September, and 2027 should fall in the same week. The district administration and the Punjab Auqaf department announce the programme a few days ahead, and the local holiday notification is the most reliable sign of the exact days.

News reports also disagree about which anniversary each year marks (the 2025 urs was called both the 227th and the 228th), so don't be confused if you see two different numbers.

Who was Waris Shah?

Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan in 1722, studied in Kasur and spent most of his life at Malka Hans, near Pakpattan, where he wrote Heer in 1766. He died at the end of the 18th century and was buried in his home town. He belonged to the Chishti Sufi order, but he is remembered above all as a poet: his Heer is the version of the Heer and Ranjha story that most Punjabis know, and its lines are still quoted in everyday Punjabi.

What happens over the three days

The programme changes a little each year, but recent reports describe the same core events.

1. Opening ceremonies. On the first day the grave is washed with rose water (ghusl) and floral wreaths are laid. A senior official, in 2025 the Secretary Auqaf, then performs chadar poshi, laying a ceremonial cloth over the tomb, to formally open the urs.
2. Heer recitation. The centre of the urs. Reciters sing passages of Heer Waris Shah in the traditional style, and there is a Heer recitation competition, with prizes and shields for the best performers. Older reports place the competition on the second day.
3. Poetry and devotional music. A Punjabi mushaira, a mehfil-e-naat, Quran recitation and special prayers, and in 2025 a Sufi night with well-known singers performing kalam.
4. The mela. Traditional kabaddi matches have been part of the urs for years, and past programmes have included horse dancing and folk performances. Stalls line the approach to the shrine, and langar (free food) is served to visitors.

The Punjab Council of the Arts has organised the cultural side together with the district administration in recent years, so the evening programme tends to be more polished than at a purely local urs.

How is Heer sung?

Heer is not read like a book. It is sung, by a single voice, usually to a slow, rising and falling melody that stretches each line out so the words carry across a crowd. Wikipedia notes that it is traditionally sung in raag Bhairavi. Some reciters sing with a harmonium or a single drone; many of the best known sing with no accompaniment at all.

Listeners who know the poem often mouth the lines along with the singer, and a well-turned line can get a cry of approval from the audience halfway through. If your Punjabi is good you will follow much of it; Waris Shah's language is 18th-century Punjabi, but it is far closer to everyday speech than Persian or Urdu poetry of the same period. If your Punjabi is limited, it still works as music, and someone nearby will usually be glad to explain which part of the story is being sung.

Crowds, security and langar

The urs draws thousands of people across the three days, most of them from Sheikhupura, Lahore and the surrounding villages. The district administration puts out a security, traffic and sanitation plan each year, and Auqaf sets up langar and other arrangements for visitors.

What that means in practice:

• Expect walk-through gates and bag checks at the shrine entrance. Carry your CNIC.
• Park early or park far. The roads into Jandiala Sher Khan are narrow, and the approach to the shrine fills with stalls. Ask a local which field or school ground is being used for parking.
• The busiest times are the opening ceremonies and the evening programmes. Mornings on the second and third days are calmer.
• Langar is offered as charity. You can accept it politely; you don't pay for it. Many people leave a donation at the shrine instead.
• Signal can slow down in the crowd. Agree a meeting point with your group.

How to visit respectfully

The general rules for any shrine apply: our guide to shrine visiting etiquette covers them in detail. In short, dress modestly, cover your head inside the shrine (a dupatta for women, a cap or scarf for men if you have one), take off your shoes where others do, and keep your voice down near the grave.

A few points matter more at this urs than at most:

• Don't talk over a reciter. The Heer performances are the point of the event for many people in the audience.
• Ask before filming a performer close up. Wide shots of the crowd are usually fine; a phone in someone's face is not.
• Women travelling without family may find the daytime events easier than the packed evening programmes.

Getting there and planning a day from Lahore

Jandiala Sher Khan is about 14 km from Sheikhupura city. From Lahore, drive to Sheikhupura first, either by the Lahore to Sheikhupura road or by the M2 motorway's Sheikhupura interchange, then follow Jandiala road to the shrine. Use a maps app for the last stretch, as it runs through small roads. On urs days, allow at least an hour and a half each way from central Lahore and more if you are coming back after an evening programme.

A sensible plan is to leave Lahore by mid-morning, spend the middle of the day at the shrine for the recitations, and either head home before dark or stay on for the evening programme with a local driver. If you want to see more in the area, Mughal Hiran Minar is on the Sheikhupura side and makes a good stop on the way.

The town also has two smaller sites with a Waris Shah connection: an Akbar-era baoli (step-well) built by Sher Khan, after whom the town is named, and the old fort, where the Punjab government has opened a Waris Shah heritage and cultural gallery. Check locally whether the gallery is open during the urs.

Is the Waris Shah urs worth going to?

Go if you love Punjabi poetry or music, or want to see a shrine festival where people come as much to listen as to pray. It is also easier than the bigger urs gatherings: the crowd is large but manageable, and a day trip from Lahore works well. If you can only manage one Sufi festival near Lahore, compare it with the Bulleh Shah urs in Kasur, which is larger and more about kafi singing and devotion.

Skip it if you don't understand Punjabi and have no interest in sung poetry, or if you dislike crowds and narrow roads. In that case, visit the tomb on a quiet weekday instead, and see our experiences page for other cultural events in Punjab.

Frequently asked questions