ne of the largest gatherings of qawwals in the country takes place every year during the urs of Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore, as was demonstrated once again during last week’s celebrations.

Qawwali performances were initially held outdoors before gradually shifting to the grounds of educational institutions. Later, the performances moved to the shrine’s vast basement, which, despite its size, can no longer accommodate the crowds drawn to the sama’ proceedings.

The shrine itself has been undergoing extensive renovation for many months. It is expected that larger and better facilities will be provided for qawwali performances, one of the most popular and enduring features of the shrine’s rituals throughout the year, especially on Thursday evenings.

The transformation extends beyond the shrine itself. The hotels and lodging houses that traditionally accommodated visiting qawwals, particularly during the annual urs, have either been demolished or substantially altered. Little thought appears to have been given to the historical significance of these places, which formed an integral part of the shrine’s cultural landscape.

Qawwali is generally believed to have originated in the creative milieu of Amir Khusro, who, together with Mian Saamit and other performers, developed the musical form that later came to be known by that name. The tradition emerged in and around the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya on the outskirts of Delhi before gradually spreading to neighbouring shrines.

Data Ganj Bakhsh is believed to have lived in Lahore roughly two centuries before the emergence of this tradition. It is therefore reasonable to assume that qawwali became part of the shrine’s rituals much later, although precisely when remains a matter of debate.

It is said that the regions that now constitute the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Bengal possessed their own devotional traditions centred on music and dance. Qawwali was only one among several practices and did not occupy the central position that it enjoys today.

Some shrines, such as that of Baba Farid in Ajodhan, now Pakpattan, may have formally incorporated qawwali into their rituals, particularly during annual celebrations, but the exact moment when the practice became firmly established remains uncertain.

Many scholars argue that qawwali acquired greater prominence after the creation of Pakistan, when migrants arriving from different parts of the subcontinent brought with them established musical traditions. Radio Pakistan may have further strengthened the practice by introducing wider audiences to qawwals performing the works of poets whose writings became part of the cultural imagination of the new state.

Today, it seems almost natural that shrines across the Punjab should host qawwali performances every Thursday and on an even grander scale during annual urs celebrations. Yet the gradual acceptance and assimilation of this tradition deserve closer examination, for they reveal an important chapter in the cultural history of Pakistan.

The writer is a culture critic based in Lahore.