H-M synthesis: The Islamic shrine which draws Hindus in droves

by Guest Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:13 pm

TIRUCHI: E Karthikeyan, a Chennai businessman, never fails to make his annual trip to Nagore, a small, crowded pilgrim town in Nagapattinam district. Once in Nagore, Karthikeyan, accompanied by his family, drives straight to the Hazrat Syed Shahul Hameed dargah, popularly known as Nagore Dargah, where he offers a heavily brocaded chadar' to the Muslim saint's tomb. "The ritual of presenting the chadar (blanket) started around the year 1900 when my great grandfather Palaniandi Pillai took his family for the Khanduri festival and presented a chadar," says Karthikeyan.

Karthikeyan is one among the thousands of Hindus who visit the Nagore dargah during the annual Khandhuri festival. The majestic tomb, more than 500 hundred years old, flanked by five minarets towering over the town is an epitome of harmonious co-existence of the two religions.

"Not just during Khanduri festival, Hindus visit the dargah throughout the year to get the blessings of the holy saint. Here, it is the soul of the person that matters and not the religion," says S Syed Kamil Sahib Qadiri, president of the Nagore dargah, taking a break from a meeting with police officials to discuss security measures to be adopted in the pilgrim town on the eve of the Ayodhya verdict. Even Hindu devotees from Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka visit the dargah regularly, he said.

"I have been visiting the Nagore dargah for the past seven years,'' says Sivasubramanian, a 39-year-old father of two, who works in a tea shop in Tiruchi. Hazrat Syed Shahul Hameed or Nagore Andavar', as the devotees call the saint, lived in Nagore in the 16th century. He was also popularly called Meeran Sahib or Qadir Wali.

Palaniandi Pillai, the great-grandfather of Karthikeyan, supposed to have overcome a debt problem after praying at the saint's tomb. As a mark of gratitude, he built many of the gates at the dargah besides making liberal donations. Besides businessmen like him, the Naik rulers of Thanjavur and the Marathas during the later period have also patronised the dargah. The Maratha king of Thanjavur, Tulasi Maharaja, donated 4,000 acres of agricultural land for the maintenance of the dargha. "Where comes the question of religion when all are brethren?" asks Syed Kamil Sahib Qadiri.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Nagore-dargah-draws-Hindus-in-droves/articleshow/6654586.cms