Kaliyar Sharif
India is a huge flower-pot bearing
flowers of various shades and colours, each significant in its own way.
The shrine of Kaliyar Sharif has in store a similar experience for
visitors. All around in Haridwar you find temples, ashrams and ghats and
just in the midst of it all is an Islamic shrine, the
true picture of India. Sometimes called Peeran Kaliyar,
it is the tomb of Baba Sabir Ali, a Muslim
Sufi saint, known throughout the Islamic history for his
compassion towards human beings and for his miraculous deeds. The shrine
of Kaliyar Sharif is located in a small village, at a 30-minute drive
from the holy town of Haridwar in the Uttarakhand region.
The Kaliyar Sharif shrine is believed
to be 800 years old. Visitors come here to in huge
number to pay their tribute, to offer prayer and to seek favour from the
sufi saint. It was another saint Qutbe Alam who built
the tomb of Baba Aliuddin Ali Ahmed Sabir, locally
known as Sabirpia. During Urs Festival, hundreds of
devotees and pilgrims arrive here to pray in order to get their wishes
fulfilled by the blessings of the saint. The festival takes place at the
shine every year in the months of May-June.
Qawwalis are
organised at the shrine on an everyday basis. The lovers of sufi music
can really look forward to attending one such session. During the
sufi musical session, a special spiritual aura
surrounds the place. The Qawwali singers sing praises of the saint
Sabipia and Allah, who sent him to
convey His message to the whole world. At the shrine, langar is cooked
in the religious kitchen and is distributed on a daily basis to the need
and to those who visit here.
|
