THAAP Series

Poets and Perspectives: Madho Lal Hussein

6 PM, SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2016

43-G, Gulberg III, Lahore

THAAP is organizing a series of events on mystic poets of South Asia from a variety of literary traditions. The primary objective is to highlight the work of the selected poet by examining/discussing/engaging with it from artistic, activist, scholarly, and performative perspectives. The series will culminate in a publication to be disseminated to the general public later.

Poet, weaver, mystic, saint, Shah Hussein (1539-99) created a stir in sixteenth-century Punjab through his unconventional lifestyle and the subversive power of his poetry. Popularly known as Madho Lal Hussein, after he adopted the name of his young lover and disciple, he remains a beguiling, enigmatic figure: a firebrand whose growing fame was a cause of anxiety for the political elite; a Muslim who fell in love with a Hindu boy and won his heart and devotion; a rebel philosopher who found solace in ignominy. His urs (death anniversary), known as Mela Chiraga’an (Festival of Lamps), continues to be held annually at his shrine in Baghbanpura, Lahore.