The tale of Heer Ranjha

Heer Saleti was an extremely beautiful woman, born into a wealthy Jatt family.Ranjha, also a Jatt, is the youngest of four brothers and lives in the village 'Takht Hazara' by the river Chenab.Being his father's favourite son unlike his brothers who had to toil in the lands, he led a life of ease playing the flute ('Wanjhli'/'Bansuri').After a quarrel with his brothers over land, Ranjha leaves home.It is also believed that Ranjha left his home because his brothers' wives refused to give him food.

Eventually he arrives in Heer's village and falls in love with her. Heer offers Ranjha a job as caretaker of her father's cattle. She becomes mesmerised by the way Ranjha plays his flute and eventually falls in love with him. They meet each other secretly for many years until they are caught by Heer's jealous uncle, Kaido, and her parents Chuchak and Malki. Heer is forced by her family and the local priest or 'mullah' to marry another man called Saida Khera.

Ranjha was heartbroken. He was left to walk the quiet villages on his own until eventually he meets a 'Jogi' (ascetic). After meeting Baba Gorakhnath, the founder of the "Kanphata"(pierced ear) sect of Jogis, at 'Tilla Jogian' (the 'Hill of Ascetics', located 50 miles north of the historic town of Bhera, Sargodha District, Punjab (Pakistan)), Ranjha voluntarily became a Jogi, piercing his ears and renouncing the material world. Reciting the name of the Lord, "Alakh Niranjan", on his travels around Punjab, he eventually finds the village where he is reunited with Heer.

The two return to Heer's village, where Heer's parents agree to their marriage. However, on the wedding day, Heer's jealous uncle Kaido poisons her food so that the wedding will not take place. Hearing this news, Ranjha rushes to aid Heer, but he is too late, as she has already eaten the poison and died. Brokenhearted once again, Ranjha takes the poisoned Laddu (sweet) which Heer has eaten and dies by her side.
Heer and Ranjha are buried in a Punjabi town in Pakistan called Jhang, Punjab. Lovers and others often pay visits to their mausoleum.

The tale of Sohni Mahiwal

Sohni was the daughter of a potter named Tula, who lived in Gujrat town in the Punjab near the banks of the Chenab.As soon as the 'Surahis' (water pitchers) and mugs came off the wheels, she would draw floral designs on them and transform them into masterpieces of art.

Izzat Biag, a rich trader from Uzbekistan, came to India on business but when he saw the beautiful Sohni, he was completely enchanted. Instead of keeping 'mohars' (gold coins) in his pockets, he roamed around with his pockets full of love. Just to get a glimpse of Sohni, he would end up buying the water pitchers and mugs everyday.

Sohni lost her heart to Izzat Baig. Instead of making floral designs on earthenware, she started building castles of love in her dreams. Izzat Baig sent off his companions to Bukhara. He took up the job of a servant in the house of Tula, Sohni's father. He would even take their buffaloes for grazing. Soon, he came to be known as "Mahiwal"(buffalo herder).

When the people started spreading rumours about the love of Sohni and Mahiwal, without her consent her parents arranged her marriage with another potter.Suddenly, one day his "barat" (marriage party) arrived at the threshold of her house. Sohni was helpless and in a poignant state. Her parents bundled her off in the doli (palanquin), but they could not pack off her love in any doli.

Izzat Baig renounced the world and started living like a "faqir" (hermit) in a small hut across the river. The earth of Sohni’s land was like a dargah (shrine) for him. He had forgotten his own land, his own people and his world. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, when the world was fast asleep, Sohni would come by the riverside and Izzat Baig would swim across the river to meet her. He would regularly roast a fish and bring it for her. It is said that once, when due to high tide he could not catch a fish, Mahiwal cut a piece of his thigh and roasted it. Seeing the bandage on his thigh, Sohni opened it, saw the wound and cried.

From the next day, Sohni started swimming across the river with the help of an earthen pitcher as Izzat Baig was so badly wounded and could not swim across the river. Soon, the rumours of their romantic rendezvous spread. One-day Sohni’s sister-in-law followed her and saw the hiding place where Sohni used to keep her earthen pitcher among the bushes. The next day, the sister-in-law removed the hard baked pitcher and replaced it with an unbaked one. That night, when Sohni tried to cross the river with the help of the pitcher, it dissolved in the water and Sohni was drowned. From the other side of the river, Mahiwal saw Sohni drowning and jumped into the river and drowned as well.The Tomb Of Sohni In Shahdapur City Sindh, which is 75 km from (Hyderabad). According to the legend the bodies of Sohni Mahiwal were recovered from river Indus near Shahdapur and hence are buried there.