The schools across the Punjab provincial capital will remain closed on August 26 (Monday) on account of the urs (death anniversary) of sufi saint Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, authorities said on Friday. 

An official notification issued in this regard stated that all public and private schools in Lahore will observe holiday on the occasion of urs.

The devotees mark the event annually with three days ceremonies. The commemorations will start tomorrow (Saturday) at the shrine of the revered saint, known as 'Data Darbar'.

Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh was a Persian sufi and scholar during the 11th century. He was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan (990 AD) during the Ghaznavid Empire and settled and died in Lahore spreading the spirit of brotherhood in sufism.

Hundreds of devotees, including religious scholars and Sufis, flock to Data Darbar — which is considered as the largest Sufi shrine in South Asia — to participate in the urs every year.