The Tomb of Heer Ranjha

Where the Punjab keeps the grave of its most famous lovers

A 15th-century tomb in Jhang, the hometown of Heer, held to be the resting place of Heer Syal and Dheedo Ranjha, the lovers of the best-loved tragedy of the Punjab. Heer Ranjha began as an oral legend; Damodar Gulati first wrote it down in the 1600s, and the most famous telling is Waris Shah’s Heer of 1766, an epic poem of love, forced separation and a shared death. It is one of the four great tragic romances of the Punjab, with Mirza Sahiban, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun. In the story Heer is poisoned, and Ranjha, finding her, eats the rest of the poisoned food and dies at her side; they were buried here because Jhang was her home. When the two really lived is not known, but they are usually placed in the fifteenth century, and the plaque at the tomb gives 876 AH, which is 1471 AD, as the year of their death. The tomb is in the Islamic style, with a dome and small turrets at its four corners. Couples come to it, and an urs is held here every year during Muharram.