SOCIETY
Annual Urs of Makhdoom Sheikh
at Bihar Sharief
Thousands of pilgrims from various parts of the country (come) here to participate in the five-day annual Urs Mela in the memory of the Sufi Saint Makhdum Sheikh Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri, known as Hazrat Makhdum Saheb. Hazrat Makhdum Saheb is known as one of the great Sufi saints of the country.
The pilgrims offer silk chadars as a mark of reverence to the saint, whose mortal remains are enshrined in the Bari Dargah. The mazar of Hazrat Makhdum Saheb is the symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity and communal harmony.The annual Urs Mela starts on the fifth day of Id. Thousands of Muslim pilgrims (as well as) hundreds of Hindus offer prayers every day, chadurs (also) different institution of this town including police stations, criminal courts etc.
Huge copper cauldrons are installed in the premises by the organizations and cooked rice, vegetable and pulses which is to be distributed all along the five-day celebration, among the needy and poor free of cost.
The mela started with the "chadar poshi" performed by Nalanda district administration on the February 25, 1996.
A Temple with a Muslim as Vishnu's Consort Nirupama Subramanian in India Today,
31 March, 1996
The Tulukka Nachchiyar, literally, "the Muslim lady", painted on the wall of one of the oldest Vishnu temples in India, Surathani is the consort of Lord Vishnu. Every day, thousands of worshippers stream into the Sri Ranganathaswami temple at Srirangam, 8 km from Tiruchi, filing devoutly past her. In all probability. this is the only Vishnu temple in the country where a Muslim is venerated as a goddess.
On special days, the priests, after bathing the idol, wrap him in a red, checked tehmet, a Muslim apparel, instead of a white dhoti. Most Muslims living nearby (may) not even aware of her existence, for the temple's sanctum sanctorum is out of bounds for non-Hindus.
There are other temple practices. For instead, prasad is offered to the deity on a cloth.
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'Spirited' Devotees at Baba Rode's 'Samadhi'
Spirited devotees throng the Samadhi of Baba Rode Shah (Fatehgarh Churian, Punjab), clutching bottles of liquor as offerings for grant of a boon.
The offerings are then distributed in the form of 'prasad' for which the devotees scramble. There 15 a general atmosphere of revelry as the devotees sing and dance in gay abandon to the beat of the drums.
However, the keeper of the shrine says only the people with impure intentions get drunk here while the others have their wishes fulfilled after drinking the 'holy" liquor.
This unusual bonhomie is witnessed at the annual fair held here during this month when devotees from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi come to pay their obeisance to the saint.
