The 44th death anniversary of the legendary sufi and folk singer Alam Lohar was observed on Monday.

He was born in 1928 in a village near Gujrat.

Alam Lohar is famous for his rendition of Waris Shah's Heer, which he has memorized in 36 styles and forms.

He was also honored with Pakistan’s Highest Civil Award for Arts and Theatre the Pride of Performance Award in 1979.

Alam Lohar developed a new style of singing the Punjabi Vaar an epic or folk tale.

He recorded his first album at the age of 13 and has outsold all other singers in Pakistan in the 1970s.

He died in a road accident on this day in 1979.