Tomb of Sohni-Mehar
Sights/Landmarks
Sohni-Mahiwal is a tragic love story which reverts the classical motif of Hero and Leader. Legend has it that the bodies of Sohni and Mahiwal were recovered from the Indus River near Shahdadpur, Sindh, some 75 km (47 mi) from Hyderabad, Pakistan. Sohni's tomb is located at Shahpur Chakar Road, Shahdadpur, and is visited by lovers. Sohni-Mehar is one of the favourite folktales both in Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan and in India.
Women often come to the tomb to pray for love and for children after marriage. There are empty wooden jhoolay (swings) around the grave which are kept by women who want them filled with their own children. They offer sweets and money when their prayers are answered. This is a shrine to the lovers of the land.
Folklore
The Sindhi and Punjabi version of the folktale differs slightly. In the Sindhi version, the buffalo-herder or mehar, whose name is Sahar, is a pious and beautiful young man whose life is one of hard work, prayer and playing the pipe. A group of men come to him and ask for milk to perform the milk-offering ceremony for the bride and bridegroom. The love between Sohni and Mehar is attributed to a drink of milk that Mehar gave her during the marriage procession over the river.
Sohni is unhappy in her marriage and swims every night across the river using an earthenware pot to keep afloat in the water, to where her beloved Mehar herds buffaloes. One night her mother-in-law replaces the earthenware pot with a vessel of unbaked clay, which dissolves in water and she dies in the whirling waves of the river.
The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and is one of seven popular tragic romances from Sindh. Shah begins the story at the most dramatic moment, when a young woman cries out for help in the cold river, attacked by crocodiles. The whole chapter (Sur Sohni) is merely an extension of this dreadful and yet hoped-for moment when the vessel of her body breaks and she, faithful to her pre-eternal love-covenant with Mehar, will be forever united through death.
For more details: The Sindhi ‘Sohni Mahiwal’ and Punjab: Sohni
Women often come to the tomb to pray for love and for children after marriage. There are empty wooden jhoolay (swings) around the grave which are kept by women who want them filled with their own children. They offer sweets and money when their prayers are answered. This is a shrine to the lovers of the land.
Folklore
The Sindhi and Punjabi version of the folktale differs slightly. In the Sindhi version, the buffalo-herder or mehar, whose name is Sahar, is a pious and beautiful young man whose life is one of hard work, prayer and playing the pipe. A group of men come to him and ask for milk to perform the milk-offering ceremony for the bride and bridegroom. The love between Sohni and Mehar is attributed to a drink of milk that Mehar gave her during the marriage procession over the river.
Sohni is unhappy in her marriage and swims every night across the river using an earthenware pot to keep afloat in the water, to where her beloved Mehar herds buffaloes. One night her mother-in-law replaces the earthenware pot with a vessel of unbaked clay, which dissolves in water and she dies in the whirling waves of the river.
The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and is one of seven popular tragic romances from Sindh. Shah begins the story at the most dramatic moment, when a young woman cries out for help in the cold river, attacked by crocodiles. The whole chapter (Sur Sohni) is merely an extension of this dreadful and yet hoped-for moment when the vessel of her body breaks and she, faithful to her pre-eternal love-covenant with Mehar, will be forever united through death.
For more details: The Sindhi ‘Sohni Mahiwal’ and Punjab: Sohni
|
|
|