Chamliyal border shrine turns epicentre of Indo-Pak bonhomie

Thousands of people from either side of India-Pakistan border thronged the shrine of Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, popularly known as Baba Chamliyal, in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district today.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Pakistan Rangers joined the devotees on the occasion of the annual mela of the saint.
A team of Pakistan Rangers exchanged sweets with BSF personnel at Zero Line in Ramgarh sector. The Pakistani team offered Chadar at the shrine, located one-and-a-half kilometre from Zero Line.
BSF troops handed over a trolley of shakkar (holy soil) and a tanker of sharbat (holy water) from the shrine to the Pakistani team for the devotees in their country.

Every year, devotees from both sides converge at the border, near the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine, to pay obeisance to Baba Chamliyal, Shamsher Singh, a member of the shrine panel, said.
Baba Chamliyal, after whom the village is named, lived about 320 years ago and is revered by the people of all faiths because of his saintly qualities and spiritual powers.

Till 1971, Pakistani nationals were allowed to come to the Indian side of the border to pay obeisance at the shrine. However, after the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the practice was stopped. Since then, only a Pakistan Rangers delegation comes to offer chadar and, in return, carries shakkar and sharbat from the shrine for the devotees in Pakistan.

Baba Chamliyal Mela has become popular since November, 2003 following a ceasefire and parallel peace initiatives by both the countries.
While it is held for three days at the shrine complex on the Indian side, located around 50 kms from Jammu, it is held for a week in Saidanwali village of Sialkote district in Pakistan.
A popular belief on both sides is that the soil and water from the shrine cure skin diseases. As a result, it draws devotees from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana as well.
Baba Chamliyal was beheaded by those who did not like his growing influence. They dropped his body at Saidanwali village in Pakistan, around 300 metres from the border, and the head on the other side, now known as Chamliyal.

The legend has it that where his blood fell, the soil turned fertile and a well was dug at the site where his head was dropped. Later, his devotees built a tomb in his memory at the spot.
BSF and the civil administration had made elaborate arrangements, including transport and food, for the benefit of the devotees on the occasion.