Nagore Durgha

For the shine in Singapore, see Nagore Durgha, Singapore.

Coordinates: 10°49′05″N 79°51′29″E / 10.818°N 79.858°E / 10.818; 79.858

Nagore Durgha
Location	Nagore, Tamil Nadu, India
Architectural information
Style	Islamic

Nagore Durgah or Nagore Durgha is a minaret built over the tomb of Shahul Hamid(1490-1579 A.D.),^[1] a 13th generation descendant of the renowned sufi saint, Muhiyudin Abd al-Qadir al-Jalani.^[2] It is located in the eastern coast of Bay of Bengal at Nagore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Shahul Hamid

Shahul Hamid was born to Syed Hassan Kuthos and Bibi Fathima at Manickpoor, in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. He had his Islamic education at Gwalior under the guidance of Hazrat Mohammad Ghouse. He left on pilgrimage to Mecca and then moved to Maldives, Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu with his spiritual team.^[3] He led a simple and pious life, but believed to have performed lot of miracles giving him the name Nagore Andavar(meaning God of Nagore).^[3] He was also called Meera Saheb.^[4]

History

Shahul Hamid cured king Achutappa Nayak(1529-1542 A.D.), a Hindu ruler of Thanjavur of his physical affliction believed to be caused by a sorcery.^[5] Shahul Hamid found a pigeon struck with pins in the palace attic to be the cause of the misery. He removed the pins from the pigeon resulting in the king's health improvement. The ruler was satisfied and in return donated 200 acres of land to the entourage.^[5] In remembrance of the event, the practise of setting pigeons free is continued by worshippers. In the last quarter of 18th century, when the conflict between European powers, the nawab, the Maratha kings and Tipu Sultan of Mysore all came in focus of Thanjavur domain, the dargah was in focus for this strategic rivalry^[6]

Architecture

The tallest minaret of the dargah

The Durgah as it stands now was built by devotees whose wishes were fulfilled by praying Shahul. It is believed that 60 percent of the shrines were built by Hindus^[7] Pratap Singh(1739-1763 A.D.), the Hindu Maratha ruler of Thanjavur, built the one of the five and tallest minaret(periya manara)^[1] with a height of 131 feet.^[8] This was erected 195 years after Shahul's era.^[5] Veneration of foot-print of the saint is preserved in the shrine. The central part of the dargah is the tomb of the saint, Shahul Hamid, approached through seven thresholds(four made of silver and three of gold). There is a shrine for Shahul's son Yusuf and daughter-in-law Ceytu Sultan(Sayid Sultan) Bibi. The doors of the shrines are open only during early morning and evening.^[7] Shahul's descendants are the trustees of the dargah. There is big tank within the temple and its waters are held sacred.^[9] In the Nakaiyanthathi, the Tamil devotional poems, there is a mention about the tank as a haven of sweetness and comfort bedecked with the auspicious lotus.^[9]

There are other shrines built in his honour in Penang(Malaysia) and Singapore. The Singapore dargah has been built during 1827 and 1830 A.D. and has been declared a national monument. The above shrines along with the Masjid Jame at Chulia in Singapore and the Keramat Data Koya in Penang are influenced by the style of Nagore Durgah.^[10]

Festivals

Kanduri festival is a 14 day event celebrated for the annual urs(anniversary) of the saint.^[1][11] The urs is celebrated in commemoration of the anniversary of the saint's death, and pilgrims participate in the rituals and rites. The word kanduri is derived from Persian word for table cloth. The festival is also called Qadir Wali Ke Fande festival.^[11] A saffron flag carrying ceremony is also observed when the flag is carried in procession from the devotee's house after a procession in streets and hoisted on a tree known as Fande ka Fahad. The Islamic rites include the recitation of Quaranic verses and observance of Fatiha ritual.^[12] The main attractin of the festival is the presence of Fakhir Jamas(mendicant priests) and the disciples of the saint who witness the festival. On the 9th day of Jamathul Akhir month, at 10 p.m., one of the disciples(called pir) is chosen for the spiritual excerise of offering prayers to the saint. The pir throws lemons at the end of the prayers on the devotees, which is believed to provide miraculous relief to worldly sorrows.^[12] The festival is also seen as a sacred exchange between Hindus and Muslims expressing solidarity of mixed faith in the region.^[11] In the evening of the ninth day of Akhir month, the chariot containing sandal paste is pulled by the pilgrims and devotees accompanied by banging of instruments across the streets of Nagore. The sadal paste is received by the saint's descendants and used to anoint the on the Rowla Sharif of the saint by the spiritual successor(Khalifa) of the dargaha.^[13]

Worship and Rituals

Dargah is a common place of veneration of devotees of various religious faiths. The practise of offering flowers, sweatmeats and food, the way of conducting worship, and playing of musical instruments are followed in the shrine, which are atypical of Hindu tradition.^[14] Other worship practises are offering flags and lighting lamps of ghee at the saint's tomb. Devotees shave their heads near the tank and offer tin or silver plated fascimiles of body parts, houses, sailboats matching their material needs.^[7]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hunter 1908, p. 3
2. ^ Raj 2006, p. 69
3. ^ ^{a b} Mohammada 2007, p. 224
4. ^ Mohammada 2007, p. 225
5. ^ ^{a b c} Raj 2006, p. 65
6. ^ Bayly 2003, p. 220
7. ^ ^{a b c} Visweswaran 2011, pp. 33-34
8. ^ Bayly 2003, p. 91
9. ^ ^{a b} Bayly 2003, p. 134
10. ^ Feener 2009, p. 58
11. ^ ^{a b c} Werbner 1998, pp. 61-62
12. ^ ^{a b} Mohammada 2007, p. 226
13. ^ Mohammada 2007, p. 227
14. ^ Mohammada 2007, p. 223

References

• Raj, Selva J.; William P. Harman (2006), Dealing With Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, Albany: State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-6707-4 .
• Bayly, Susan (2003), Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900/Susan Bayly, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-37201-1 .
• Feener, R. Michael; Terenjit Sevea, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (2009), Islamic connections: Muslim societies in South and Southeast Asia, Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, ISBN 978-981-230-924-2 .
• Werbner, Pnina; Helene Basu (1998), Embodying charisma: modernity, locality, and performance of emotion in Sufi, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-15099-X .
• Hunter, Sir William Wilson (1908), Imperial gazetteer of India, Volume 19, Oxford: Claredon Press .
• Mohammada, Malika (2007), The foundations of the composite culture in India, Delhi: Aakar Books, ISBN 978-81-89833-18-3 .
• Visweswaran, Kamala (2011), Perspectives on Modern South Asia: A Reader in Culture, History, and, UK: Blackwell Publishing Limited, ISBN 978-1-4051-0062-5 .