Multani Baba

Juna Akhara is composed of 52 lineages, each with a name, usually that of one of its illustrious members. My lineage is called Multani Maṛī, named after Pir Keshav Puri Multani Baba. To the Hindus he was a siddha baba, and to the Muslims he was a great saint, Pir Shams, the guru of the great poet Rumi.

Multan was one of the great cities and hubs of the ancient world, and on a map its roads spread from the center resembling the rays of the sun, and indeed, it was home to one of the greatest Sun Temples of its times. The reflection of its shikhar (spire), made of solid gold, could be seen for 100 kilometers. On the far edge of the city, at a pool called Surya Kund, lived a Naga Baba named Keshav Puri.

I tell the story of Multani Baba about how he raised the King’s son from the dead. But the clerics cut short the King’s euphoria by demanding that Multani Baba be tried in a court of law for blasphemy, because he performed the miracle in his own name instead of God’s name. What follows is a litany of miracles, confounding the judgement of the court, and a return to Surya Kund and receiving blessings from the Goddess, Sindhu, Herself.