Hindu Muslim Amity in Khordha - an Historical Overview
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ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review ndia is a land of many religions, many sects and Imany cults. It owes it’s heritage to an ancient civilization which in its onward march with time has assimilated the essence of many cultures. It’s amity lies essentially in its cultural pluralism. To- day when a controversy is raging across the country over the concept of Hindutwa, the peaceful co-existence of different communities in Khordha and the Hindu Muslim amity prevailing to this day in certain parts of the then Khordha Kingdom really makes amazing reading. Khordha the then capital of Odisha, a fortress strategically selected and fortified to repel Siddha Purush Bokhari Baba's Shrine, Kaipadar the continuous aggressions of neighbouring Hindu Muslim Amity in Khordha - An Historical Overview Satyabadi Baliarsingh Muslim rulers of Bengal. Therefore it remained 2. Tangi Block : Mulijhar, Kusumi, the hub of political, social, cultural and religious Rautapada, Khajuria, Chhanagiri, Dikhitapada, life of the Utkaliyas for a fairly long time. Since Gayabandha. those days, down through the British era Muslim 3. Chilika Block : Balugaon. padas had grown at different places around Khordha. Besides in certain villages Hindus and 4. Banapur Block : Hantuad, Salapdiha, Muslims remain in peaceful co-existence. Gambharimunda, Sunakhala. Following are some of the prime Muslim inhabited 5. Begunia Block: Kusupalla, villages in the present Khordha district. Saradhapur(near Atri), Routapada, Siko, 1. Khordha Block : Khordha Town Pangarsingh. (Jajarsingh), Mukundaprasad, Totapada, 6. Bolgarh Block: Chuda, Arakhapalli, Kaipadar, Kerang, Taratua, Panabaraj, Haripurpatna, Asanapalli, Kaunripatna, Kadab, Saradhapur (near Khordha Town), Haripur, Jamusahi, Dakhin Parikheta, Manikagoda, Nijigarh Tapang. Dhalapathar. 4 DECEMBER - 2017 Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 7. Bhubaneswar Block: Jadupur, existence. There are certain predominantly Muslim Mendhasal, Raghunathpur, Sundarapada. inhabited villages which have been historical 8. Jatni Block: Benapanjari, Rathipur, testimony to both Hindus and Muslims living in Haripur (Manipur), Taraboi. amity and each participating and practicing the rituals of the other communities. Some such 9. Balianta Block : Balianta, Fategarh. interesting historical traditions are narrated below. 10. Balipatna Block : Bengabati, KAIPADAR – 11 kilometers away from Khajuriapada, Majhihara, Padanpada, Barahala, Khordha, the village has a population of over Siripari, Narada, Mukundadaspur, Chitalpur, 4500, of which one fifth are Muslims. It is famous Saheb Nagar. for ‘Siddha Purush Bokhari Baba's shrine”. It’s Besides the Muslims, Khordha has a an unique place of worship for both Hindus and sizeable Christian population too. They live in Muslims. Not only from nearby villages nor from Jajarsingh, Minchinpatna and Ashrayapur. different corners of the state but devotees from Moreover, some converted Chiristians live in 8 all over the country and abroad visit this shrine to forest villages of Damia-Barabara and offer their obeisance to Satyapir. Here the priest Niladriprasad G.P. of Banapur Block. But their is a Muslim known as the ‘Khadim’. The offerings ancestors were Hindu of Saura tribal. They (Bhogas) are prepared by the Hindu Gudia and embraced Christianity by the lure of money of the Hindu Mali provides the floral offerings. While the missionaries. But their relationship with the offering the Bhoga, a big drum like instrument Hindus has remained cordial as ever. (Bada katha) is beaten which is prohibited in other Muslim rituals. Every year the 24th day of Ramjan The three religious communities living in is observed as the ‘Urs Utsav’. On this day, the Khordha have a track record of brotherly co- Khadims sprinkle rose water on Baba's Samadhi and cover it with a new canopy accompanied by Haribola, Hula-Huli by the Hindus and Allah-u- Akabar by the Muslims. The entire day remains festive with religious fervor. The Hindus perform Nam Sankritan and the Muslims recite the Koran and organise Kawalis. Although the ‘Urs’ is principally a Muslim festival, the devotees comprise a large section Hindus. The Hindus also perform ‘Satyanarayan Pala’ here. The concept of ‘Satyapir’ has been derived from the Hindu God ‘Satyanarayan’ and the Islamic ‘Peera’. ‘Satyanarayan Pala is performed by devotees for fulfillment of their wishes. The ‘peacock’s tail’ which is used by the Khadims to bless the devotees is also used by the Hindu priest in the ‘Satyapira Puja’. Belief DECEMBER - 2017 5 ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review has it that if a devotee writes his wishes on a piece the cow-herd boy, they came to have a last of paper and hangs it in the shrine, the wishes are darshan of the Baba. The Baba since then fulfilled. Even people from far off places unable became ‘Jinda Pira’(The greatest devotee of to come personally, write letters expressing their Allah). Even the Gajapati came there and he was wishes. left with no doubt that the Baba was ‘Satya Pira’. How the shrine was established in After this, the place became a seat of worship for Kaipadar has a history. In the 17th century, Hazrat both Hindus and Muslims. The Gajapati Raja Syed Jallaluddin Bokhari, a Muslim saint from gave three (3) batis and ten(10) manas of land Samarkand came to India. Before that, he has (about 32 acres) for the Sevapuja. This was about already visited Mecca and Madina. The Baba 1734 AD. The Fakirs and Rankis were given visited ‘Delhi, Ajmer, Gujrat and other places in Khecheri and Khiri prasad on every thursday India before arriving at Kaipadar. Some say Baba which practice is in vogue even today. on his way to Srikshetra Puri was enchanted by In 1883, a merchant from Mumbai Hazi the flower and fruit garden at Kaipadar and Ramzan Alli, who had received a boon from the decided to stay there. There he met a Hindu Baba turned Baba’s ‘Pitha Mandap’ into a Sanyasi who was long since engaged in Tapasya. ‘Mazar’. Thereafter in 1925, Seth Hazi Ushman Both engaged in religious discourses. While the of Kolkata constructed the inner Mazar, the Sanyasi worshipped ‘Ishwar’, Baba worshipped Mosque and the Sarai. Covered with marble this ‘Allah’. From that part of time in history, it’s a holy place glitters with Muslim architectural legend afterwards. Both by practice and precept, beauty. This is a place of great tourist importance. the devotees showed that whether Ishwar or It’s top is dome shaped and on the top of the Allah, there is only one God. But to attain God, dome adorn the Muslim symbol of crescent as the paths may be different. well as Chakra of the Hindus. Dushashan The congregation of two saints from two Mangaraj was its architect. different religions not only attracted curious people Hindu and Muslim alike receive the Sirini from the nearby villages but deeply influenced them prasad made of milk, flour, ripe bananas and as well. After some days the Hindu saint went out coconut from the hands of Muslim priest as also on a pilgrimage not to return at all. One day the the ‘Guda Bhoga’ which is prepared by the Hindu then Gajapati Rama Chandra Dev of Khordha Gudias. Having failed to secure any cure with the visited the Baba and received his blessings. With help of modern medical science, many people by Baba’s permission, he built an Ashram there and receiving ‘hukum’ have been miraculously cured made arrangements for Baba’s daily maintenance. of many dreaded diseases. Undoubtedly, the A cowherd boy on his own, provided milk to the socio-cultural milieu of Kaipadar portrays a rich Baba. Baba’s fame spread as he could fulfill the blend of historical sagacity and religious fraternity. wishes of the people seeking his blessings. The MANIKAGODA: cowherd boy one day noticed that an ant-hill had been formed around the meditating Baba, only It is a village under the Bolgarh Police his face appears slightly. But it glows with a divine Station in the district of Khordha. It itself is not a radiance. When the villagers heard of this from revenue village, rather the congregation of revenue 6 DECEMBER - 2017 Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 villages like Kumutisahi, Ramachandrapur Patna, Goddess for the Puja. On the Saptami Day, the Chandi Patna, Hat Sahi and Dalei Sahi known as Chhatri of Manika Bhuyan, worshipped by the Manikagoda. It has a population of more than Kandhas, the Katari of Mahisasuri worshipped 8000 of which 3500 are Muslims. The history of by the Dumal Gaudas, the palm leaf and Lekhani Manikagoda, where one witnesses a rare cultural of Karan Panjikar and the Patakhanda given by integration between Hindu and Muslim religious the Gajapati to the Muslim Dalabehera and observances is also unique. Once there was a worshipped by the Dumal Gaudas, the palm leaf beautiful natural garden in Manikagoda. Birabar and Lekhani of Karan Panjikar and the Dev, the youngest brother of Khordha Gajapati Patakhanda given by the Gajapati to the Muslims visited this place. Some say that banished by the Dalabehera and worshipped in the later’s house Gajapati, he had come here as a Sanyasi. Here are placed together as ‘Saja’. The Khandayat he became a great devotee of Goddess ‘Bhuyan’, Paiks also cleanse their traditional weapons and the deity of Adivasi Kandhas. It was decided to place them in Akhadaghar for the puja. All this construct a temple for the deity. But the wall of lie there till Dashami. On Vijaya-dasami day in the deity could never be erected. It collapsed each the afternoon, different techniques of the many time it was built. The deity told the King in his martial arts with the swords, the sticks, the knives dream to make a human sacrifice. When Manika, and wrestling etc. are performed by the Paiks. In the daughter of Jani (Kandha priest) knew this, the evening all assemble in Manika Bhuyan’s she sacrificed her life.