The Ram Pir Festival in Sindh

[Gul Agha <agha@CS.UIUC.EDU>]

The Raama Piiru (Ram) festival will start on Sept. 22 in Tando
Alaahyaaru,  Sindh.   The celebrations are
organized by Shiv Mandali, Tando Alaahyaaru (not too far from Hyderabad).

During this festival, the temple of Ram is dressed like a Sindhi
bridegroom.
The festival attracts hundreds of thousands of Sindhis, a majority among
them Hindus.  Pilgrims
walk for miles, ride bullock carts, horse carriages, and other vehicles
and put up 'ddijaauun' (colorful flags) at
the temple.

The Sindhi Daily Kawish (http://dailykawish.com) reports that although
the municipal government is very efficient in collecting sales and
convention taxes during this festival,  it fails to provide any services to
the pilgrims -- not even a clean up of the area around the temple.