Bulleh Shah’s shrine vandalised in Mussoorie: How the Sufi poet blended religious beliefs, challenged orthodoxy

Dr HS Bhatia, former Dean (Languages) at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, says his core messages were universal love, tolerance, compassion, and concern for mankind. Fluent in Persian and Arabic, he wrote in simple Punjabi. His writing was laced with cultural nuances, earning him a lasting fandom.

Roots in present-day Pakistan

Born in 1680 in Kasur in present-day Pakistan, his real name was Abdullah Shah. His ancestors hailed from Uch Gilaniyan in Bahawalpur, but scholars trace his birth to the Pandoke Bhatian village where his father, Shah Mohammed Dervish, worked as a teacher. An upper-caste Syed man, the parish preacher was well-versed in Arabic, Persian, and the Quran.

Even today, Shah Mohammed’s death anniversary is marked at his tomb in Pandoke Bhatian (such events are called “urs” in Sufi tradition). Bulleh Shah pursued higher education in Kasur, a key learning centre, under Hazrat Ghulam Murtaza, who also taught the renowned Punjabi poet Waris Shah, his contemporary. Bulleh Shah later studied in Batala under the Qadriya Silsilah (school), a branch of the Sunni Sufi order founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani in the 12th century Baghdad.

Rebellion against caste, religion, and patriarchy

Professor Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, formerly of Panjab University’s Punjabi Department, describes Bulleh Shah as a “seeker” who rebelled against caste, religion, and patriarchy.

After studying at Batala, he came to Lahore to seek the guidance of Shah Inayat Qadri, a liberal philosopher who was expelled from Kasur by the Afghan governor for his views. Along with the Chishti order, the Qadri ranked among Punjab’s most tolerant Sufi traditions, with the Qadris embracing music and interfaith followers. Despite the increasingly intolerant Mughal rule, Sufism flourished in the 17th and 18th century Punjab largely due to the Qadri order, and its fondness for vernacular devotional poetry like the kafi.

Bulleh Shah’s family, owing to their exalted Syed lineage, opposed his decision to take Shah Inayat Qadri as his teacher, since he hailed from the Arain caste of vegetable growers. Only his sister, who also chose to remain single like him, supported him. Lore has it that Shah met Qadri when he was tending vegetables in Lahore and asked him about the path to enlightenment. Qadri replied: “Bulleya, rab da ki pauna, itho putna uthe laana.” (Bulleya, seeking God is simple, it’s just a shift of consciousness from worldly to spiritual)

Bulleh Shah’s second act of rebellion targeted religion. He scorned rituals like the Hajj, fasting during Ramzan, Sharia laws, and even the daily namaz, enraging the clergy at a time when Islam had taken a conservative turn under the Mughals and Punjab was in tumult with frequent rebellion by the newly-founded Sikhs.

One kafi declares, “Tainu kafir kafir kehnde ne, Tu aaho aaho aakh.” (They call you infidel, you retort: ‘Yes, I am, I am!’)

Fearful of reprisals from the Mughals, Shah Inayat Qadri expelled Bulleh Shah temporarily, but they later reconciled.

His third act of rebellion challenged patriarchy. He learned to sing and dance, swapping traditional green Islamic attire for pink (worn by Punjabi brides). Sirsa notes his kafis use a feminine voice, urging women to reject oppression.

Bulleh Shah also drew from the Nath yogis, who incorporated both the Tantric Shaivite rituals and Tantra-inspired Buddhism. Professor Sirsa says he was drawn to them, for he believed they transcended religion, linking individuals to the Supreme Being through yogic practices. In one of his kafis, he declares: “To attain Thee, I have controlled breath.” Borrowing from the contemporary Bhakti movement, his murshid (guru) embodied the divine for him.

Calcutta University professor Amit Dey argued in an article (“Locating Bulleh Shah in the Mystical Tradition of South Asia”) that Bulleh Shah’s work shows deep Vedantic Monism. The philosophy asserts belief in Brahman, the universal, ultimate reality of everything that has ever existed and will exist. He also saw God in opposites: friends/foes, Hindu/Muslim, men/women, and even blending together distinct religious beliefs. Dey wrote, “He sees God in Krishna and Rama. Bulleh Shah adores Muhammad not as a messenger of God but as incarnation of God.”

Legacy in Punjab and beyond

No wonder then that when Bulleh Shah passed away in 1758, the clergy denied him space for burial. Dr HS Bhatia says trans persons and singers buried him outside Kasur. Today, his tomb in Pakistan draws the devout across the world, and the local elites seek burial sites close to him.

Filmmakers and singers across borders cherish his kafis. Filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Farah Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Gulzar, and numerous others have been inspired by them and have featured songs like “Bulla Ki Jana Main Kaun”, “Dama Dum Mast Kalandar”, “Mera Piya Ghar Aaya”, and “Chhaiyya Chhaiyya” in their films. A biopic on Bulleh Shah is currently under production in Pakistan.

A brief list of awards instituted in his name includes the Aalami Punjabi Ikatth’s Bulleh Shah Award (first given to late Punjabi poet and Padma Shri awardee Surjit Patar in 2007), and Pakistan’s Bulleh Shah Gold Medal, awarded to poet Azeez Belgaumi from Karnataka in 2025.

Bulleh Shah would have been unmoved by both the fandom and the vandalism. As he wrote:

“Mitti da tu mitti hona, kaahdi balle balle” (from dust you will go to dust, why this hullabaloo)