A shrine in Multan

The shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya is a religious and historic site in Multan, Pakistan. A Punjab Urban Unit heritage report places the mausoleum near the old walled city and discusses its association with the thirteenth-century Sufi teacher. It is a place of pilgrimage. Dates given for Zakariya’s death and the building’s construction vary among published accounts, so a single precise chronology should be treated with care. The shrine belongs to the religious life of a city with several important Sufi sites; it should not be confused with the nearby tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam.[1]

A tomb and its repairs

The heritage publication Naqoosh-e-Javidan describes the tomb near Multan Fort and discusses its brick, dome and decorative work. It reports severe damage during the British siege of Multan in 1848 and subsequent restoration. Those repairs mean that a visitor’s view of the building today includes later work as well as earlier fabric. Architectural accounts differ in their dating and in how they describe the extent of reconstruction, making old photographs, survey records and conservation documentation valuable for comparison. The tomb’s form is one part of a wider history of building and craft in the Multan region. The shrine’s history also includes the people who maintained it.[2]

Annual remembrance

A 2024 Dawn report describes the start of an annual urs at the shrine and a ceremonial washing connected with the observance. An urs commemorates a saint’s death anniversary and can bring together devotion, recitation and social gatherings. A report about one year records particular participants and arrangements; it should not be treated as a complete description of every visitor’s practice or of the festival in every period. The tomb is maintained and used by living communities, not only preserved as an object of architectural history. Accounts from visitors and caretakers can add perspectives to official surveys and historical studies.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Punjab Urban Unit. Archaeology & Cultural Heritage Sectoral Report: Multan Regional Development Plan ↗Written source · Source date: 2023 · Locator: Printed p. 16: Baha-ud-Din Zakaria mausoleum. Accessed 2026-11-04.Urban Unit report passage checked for this monument; its historical statements and conservation descriptions were not independently verified against original surveys.Return to A shrine in Multan, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Naqoosh-e-Javidan. Tomb of Baha ud din Zakariya ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Tomb of Baha ud din Zakariya: construction, location and 1848 siege. Accessed 2026-11-04.Heritage site account checked; its dating and restoration narrative are attributed and original building or conservation records were not examined.Return to A tomb and its repairs, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. The Newspaper’s Staff Reporter, Dawn. Bahauddin Zakariya’s Urs begins ↗Written source · Source date: 2024-08-12 · Locator: Report of the 2024 urs and ceremonial washing. Accessed 2026-11-04.News report checked for that year’s observance; it is not a survey of all practices or later arrangements.Return to Annual remembrance, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-PLA-0241 · English edition · human review not performed