Important Places

Shrine Hazrat Baba Farid R.A

Pakpattan is the seat of Pakistan's Chishti order of Sufism and is a major pilgrimage destination on account of the shrine of Farid-ud-Din Ganj Shakar, the renowned Punjabi poet and Sufi saint commonly referred to as Baba Farid.

Pakpattan is known in the world due to the Sufi Saint Hazrat Baba Farid-ud-Din (R.A). The city was renamed Pakpattan (meaning "Clean Land" in old Punjabi) after the arrival of Sufi Saint Baba Farid-ud-Din whose shrine is located here. Today people from all over the world come to pass through a gate called "Bahishti Darwaza" or 'Heaven's Gate' to the shrine from the 1st of Muharram to the 5th of Muharram every year. Hazrat Baba Farid was married to the daughter of the King of that era, Ghayyas-ud-Din Balban. The founder of the Sikh Faith Guru Nanak had reverence to Baba Farid and hence Sikhs also come here to pay tribute. In 1770 after a battle between Mubarak Khan II of Bahawalpur and Hari Singh, it was agreed that the neutral town of Pakpattan, held by a Muslim saint of eminence, should be the common boundary.

Hazrat Baba Farid-ud-Din Ganj Shakar died on the 5th of Muharram 664 A.H. corresponding to 17 October 1265 C.E. Baba Farid settled down in a place very next to his current shrine. Once this place was marked with a tall flag that can be seen from the entrance of the main mosque of the shrine. He started preaching to the Hindus about Islam. In a short time, a huge number of Hindus in the region embraced Islam. Those who did not become ardent followers of Baba Farid, still often visited him to seek spiritual guidance.

His shrine was quite old by the 1990s. The government of Nawaz Sharif, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan ordered the development of a large complex with a grant of PKR 40 million. Due to changes in the government, the project faced several delays and continues until today. As a part of the project, the old historical mosque was demolished despite opposition by the Department of Archaeology and Museums to preserve the old historical mosque. During the 1990s, the old 'Hujra' (the praying room) of Baba Farid's dearest pupil and son-in-law Khuwaja Makhdoom Alauddin Ahmed Sabir was also renovated by the government. The new 'Hujra' is an imitation of the design of the original 'Dargah' of Khuwaja Makhdoom Alauddin Ahmed Sabir in Kaliyar Sharif (Roorkee). Ganj Shakar Trust Hospital Pakpattan is serving the needy and poor people under the aegis of local NGO Baba Farid Ganj Shakar Educational and Welfare Trust, Pakpattan.
The annual Urs fair in his honor draws an estimated 2 million visitors to the town.

Masjid Waris Shah

Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan, Punjab, and present-day Pakistan into a reputed Syed family and was a descendant of Syed Muhammad Al-Makki through his son Syed Badruddin. Waris Shah's parents are said to have died when he was young. Waris acknowledged himself as a disciple of an ustad from Kasur, namely Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza from whom he received his education. 

After completing education Waris Shah moved to Malka Hans, a village 12 kilometers north of Pakpattan. Here he resided in a small room, adjacent to a historic mosque now called Masjid Waris Shah, until his death.