Famous
Devotees
The Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb was well-known for his orthodoxy. He found
society in his day a slave of baseless traditions and
superstitions. Exploitation of the ignorant masses by
religious impostors had reached a high peak. Well-built
graves and impressive tombs attracted larger crowds than
mosques. Aurangzeb was fully aware of the eminence of
"Aulia" and the reverence due to them. He had no
objection to the people going to the tombs of 'Aulia" but
he was against people going to every impressive grave and
bowing down in reverence. He was also aware of the
problem of the layman who could not judge the spiritual
greatness of a person, living or dead. This problem is
alive even today. He started a campaign against this
superstition. He adopted a novel method in the light of
Koran and Hadith to solve this problem. He went to every
famous tomb and offered salutations (Salaam) loudly. If
he got the response, he paid his respects and moved
forward. In the absence of a reply, he ordered the
demolition of the grave, and leveling the ground, to
discourage people from visiting the tomb. Ajmer was the
most famous centre of pilgrimage even in those days and
people of all religions thronged at the tomb of Hazrat
Khaja Moinuddin. Meddling with is was a risky job. But it
was not his policy to be politic and expedient in matters
of religion. After some hesitation he decided to carry on
his test here also. As usual he offered his Salaams.
There was no response. Even on the second attempt he got
no response. He decided to reduce the tomb to ground
level if his third attempt also failed to get a response.
He was prepared to face any kind of opposition. He had a
pleasant surprise when his third attempt was successful.
His curiosity increased. He offered his apologies and
inquired why his first two attempts did not get any
response. He got the reply that Hazrat Khaja was in his
prayers (Namaz) and he could not reply. As a token of his
reverence and devotion, Aurangzeb constructed a
magnificent gate which exists even today.
Thousands of devotees
attend Dada's court even today. Neither the biting cold
winds or the continuous drizzle in June and July, nor the
severe winter of November and December can stop them.
They return happy and contented. Why they brave all these
hardships, and what comfort they get here, are questions
that can be answered only by these devotees.
Nawab Hyder Ali was a
great devotee of Dada. He had bought a few nearby
villages (Siruguppa and others) and donated them to this
institution. The Inam Abolition Act has taken away these
villages. Tipu Sultan's devotion was greater than that of
his father. He had not only regular correspondence with
the Sajjada Nishins (Administrators, Mathadipathis) but
he also sent girls from his family to Budan Nagar
(Athigundi) to live with their families to get religious
and cultural training. He used to attend to the welfare
of the poor families of the village, and helped them in
the marriages of their girls. Relationship between Dada
and Tipu Sultan can be guessed by the fact that even on
this day, on the occasion of "Urs" of Tipu Sultan, the
covering for his grave (Ghilaf) comes from this
institution.
Dada's tribe includes not
only Muslims and laymen but also non-Muslims and rulers.
The late Sri Krishna Raja Wadiyar, the Maharaja of Mysore
was a great devotee of Dada and the Sajjada Nishins.
Every now and then he used to visit the Baba Budan Hills,
pay his respects to Hazrat Peer Syed Murtuza Shah Khadri,
the then Sajjada Nishin, take his permission, and sit
before Dada's seat with folded hands for hours. The
Maharaja and Hazrat Peer used to take long walks
discussing spiritual subjects. The Maharaja was not
satisfied with these visits though they were frequent. He
decided to have a regular residence on the hills and
ordered the construction of one. The engineers selected a
spot commanding a beautiful view and the residence was
ready in no time. The moment the Maharaja saw Dada's cave
down in the valley, he said "How can I live there when
Swami Dada is down below. This is impossible". Then he
ordered the construction of a hill station on Kemmangundi
Hills, a few miles from Baba Budan Hills which was called
Krishna Rajendra Hill Station. From there he used to come
regularly to Baba Budan Hills riding a horse. If Hazrat
Peer was at Chikkamagalur, the Maharaja used to come to
his residence at Chikkamagalur in a closed coach, on the
quiet without informing the official authorities. Nobody
could even guess that the Maharaja had come to town to
pay his respects to a fakir.
Sri Krishna Raja Wadiyar
had no son in his family for a long time. He was worried
much about it. Once, coming out of the Dargah, he saw the
stone slab where devotees broke the offered coconuts.
Struck with an idea, he mad a vow quietly that he would
split the stone with coconuts on the birth of a son in
his family. Soon after that his brother had a son, Sri
Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar. He came to the Dargah with
cartloads of coconuts to fulfill his vow and began
breaking the coconuts one by one. The stone remained
solid even after many cartloads were finished. He was in
a dilemma. He had to fulfill his vow but it appeared
impossible. At long last he realized, that in his
anxiety, he had made a vow which was apparently
impossible. He explained the situation and requested
Hazrat Peer to take him to Dada and pray for his pardon
and suggest a solution. After Hazrat Peer recited the
Fateha, Maharaja expressed his gratitude to Dada,
repented his folly, sought Dada's pardon and accepted a
coconut offered by Hazrat Peer. Coming out of the Dargah
and following the instructions, he broke the coconut on
the stone slab. To his pleasant surprise the stone slab
developed a crack.
Millions have come to,
and gone contented from, Dada's Dargah. Whoever hears of
Dada, likes to visit his place and after his visit
becomes a devotee. No wonder that Dada's devotees call
Dada and seek his help at every hurdle in life. The
Dargah is in the midst of hills and forests where one
cannot expect comforts available even in a remote
village. But none grumbles about the discomforts. If
there is no accommodation in the rooms, people spend the
nights in the open area. None has heard of any pilgrim
being disturbed by any wild animal, or a snake, or
scorpion or any insect. This is a veritable abode of
safety for Dada's devotees. Occasionally we hear of some
unfortunate person in the crowd who made fun of Dada or
his devotees or insulted them and his getting the
punishment for it immediately. The Holy Prophet has said
that to insult "Aulia" is to challenge God. God does not
tolerate the insult of His beloved ones.
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