Railway
The dargah of the Sufi mystic Sheikh Fariduddin Ganjshakar (Baba Farid) is located in:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option C — Pakpattan, Pakistan
Detailed Solution
The dargah (shrine) of Baba Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakar (Baba Farid) is located at Pakpattan, in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
About Baba Farid:
He was born in about 1173 (or 1188) CE at Kothewal, near Multan (in present-day Pakistan).
He was a great Sufi saint of the "Chishti order". He was a disciple of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki of Delhi.
His most famous disciple was Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.
He settled at Ajodhan, a town on the Sutlej river, which later came to be called "Pakpattan" ("the pure ferry" or "holy crossing").
He died there in 1266 (or 1265) CE.
He is called "Ganj-e-Shakar" ("Treasure of Sugar"), because of legends about his sweet nature and words.
His poetry and literature:
He is regarded as one of the first major poets of the Punjabi language.
112 of his verses ("shlokas") and four hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, under the name "Sheikh Farid". This shows his influence across religions.
His shrine:
- His urs (death anniversary) is celebrated every year in the Islamic month of Muharram.
- The shrine's famous "Bahishti Darwaza" ("Gate of Paradise") is opened only during the urs; devotees believe that passing through it brings blessings.
- The town of Faridkot in Indian Punjab is named after him; the "Baba Sheikh Farid Aagman Purb Mela" is held there every September.
- The "Baba Farid University of Health Sciences" in Faridkot is named after him.
Other Sufi shrines:
Bahauddin Zakariya (Suhrawardi order): Multan, Pakistan.
Data Ganj Bakhsh (Al-Hujwiri): Lahore, Pakistan; one of the oldest Sufi shrines in South Asia. Al-Hujwiri wrote "Kashf-ul-Mahjub", the oldest Persian treatise on Sufism.
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya: Delhi, India.
Shaikh Salim Chishti: Fatehpur Sikri, India.
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai: Bhit Shah, Sindh, Pakistan.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar: Sehwan Sharif, Sindh, Pakistan.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Multan has the shrines of Bahauddin Zakariya and Shah Rukn-e-Alam.
- ✗Ajmer has the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
- ✗Faridkot in India is named after Baba Farid, but his dargah is at Pakpattan.
Quick tip
Remember: Baba Farid (Ganj-e-Shakar) dargah = Pakpattan, Pakistan (Chishti; disciple of Bakhtiyar Kaki; teacher of Nizamuddin Auliya; verses in the Guru Granth Sahib; "Bahishti Darwaza"); Faridkot is named after him.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Bhakti & Sufi Movements Questions
View all ›- Q1.Who was the founder of the Vishishtadvaita philosophy?
- Q2.The Shuddhadvaita philosophy is associated with:
- Q3.Amir Khusrau, the famous poet, was a disciple of which Sufi saint?
- Q4.Which Sufi saint is believed to have laid the foundation stone of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar?
- Q5.In which language did Tulsidas compose the Ramcharitmanas?
More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Bhakti & Sufi Movements — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Bhakti & Sufi Movements, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Bhakti and Sufi movements emphasised personal devotion to God over ritual and caste. This topic covers Bhakti saints such as Ramanuja, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Chaitanya, Namdev and Tukaram, and the Sufi orders (silsilas) such as the Chishti and Suhrawardi orders and their saints. Questions usually link a saint to their region, language, teacher or ideas, or ask which Sufi order a saint belonged to. For example, Moinuddin Chishti brought the Chishti order to Ajmer, and Kabir was a disciple of Ramananda. A table of saint, region and key teaching makes these questions easy. Practise the Bhakti and Sufi movements questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.