Other
Saints
Mama Jigni and Sandal
Bouda
As you enter the other
portion of the Dargah, you see to your right the seat of
Mama Jigni.
Mama Jigni was a
princess, famous for here beauty and piety. Once, as she
was relaxing in her garden, some Jinn saw her. Struck by
her beauty, they decided to make a present of her to
their king. They brought her cot and placing it beside a
beautiful lake, rushed to convey the news to their king.
In the meanwhile, Mama Jigni woke up, and was shocked to
find herself in a strange place. Just then she saw the
Jinn coming towards her. She suspected some foul play,
and cried to God for help, the only thing she could do.
Dada heard her cries and rushed to her help. He saw Mama
Jigni's cot being carried away by the Jinn. He prayed to
God to make her ugly. The king was furious to see a woman
with an ugly face and stinking body, instead on the
beautiful young princess promised, and ordered the Jinn
to take her back. They left her cot besides the lake.
Dada took her under his protection, and prayed to God for
the restoration of her original shape. She became her
original self again, and began to live with Dada in this
portion, spending her time in prayers and meditation.
Dada gave her a bowl full of flour and instructed her to
make chapattis out of it and offer them to whosoever came
asking for food. This remained here duty for a number of
years. One day, a roguish vagabond came and asked for
food. She offered chapattis according to her custom. The
rogue caught hold of her hand. When she complained to
Dada, he advised her to give some more chapattis,
thinking he was terribly hungry. As she offered some more
with the other hand, that was also caught. When she
complained again, Dada advised her to shake her hands. As
she did so, the rogue's head rolled down the slope
separated from his body. After this incident, she begged
Dada to be relieved of this duty. Dada agreed, and
allowed her to continue her prayers and meditation, after
throwing away the rest of the flour in the bowl in a
corner. After sometime, when Dada decided to visit other
parts of the country, he left her under the care of
Hazrat Table-e-Alam Nuthar Wali of Trichinopoly. She
spent the rest of her life there. Her grave is beside
that of Hazrat Table-e-Alam.
This cave where Mama
Jigni lived is held sacred by one and all. Hindus call
her Sati Samyukta. Many people make vows here and are
sure of their success. Those who are worried about the
marriage of their daughters carry bangles from here and
allow the girls to use them. With Mama Jigni's blessings
and God's grace, these girls get married soon and the
people who had taken bangles from here, return bangles
made of gold, silver or ordinary ones, according to their
mite as a token of their devotion and gratitude. The spot
where she threw away the flour left in the bowl is called
Sandal Bauda. It is said that the flour became mud. The
mud here has a peculiar fragrance and medicinal
qualities. Its efficacy, in cases of skin ailments of all
types, has been tested. Many pilgrims carry a little
quantity of this mud and use it as medicine whenever
necessary.
There is a mosque outside
where prayers are offered regularly.
Hazrat Jan-e-Pak
Shaheed
Hazrat Syed Meeran Baba,
Jan-e-Pak Shaheed alias Baba Budan was born in Jeelan
near Baghdad. He was a direct descendant of Hazrat
Mahboob-e-Subhani. He traveled over various countries in
search of a spiritual guide. At last, it was revealed to
him that he should go to Chandra Drona Parvata and become
a disciple of Dada and that he would die here as a
martyr. He reached Malabar Coast and arrived at his
destination via Mangalore, Karekal, Khanda, Basavapatna,
Tarikere, Lingadahalli, Kamandurga and Addligiri. He was
killed in an ambush near Moti Talab and buried inside the
Dargah.
It is erroneously held by
many that Muslims came to South India from the North,
along with the invasions. According to history, the first
Muslim invasion of the South from the North, took place
during the time of Alauddin Khilji, who sent his generals
Khaja Haji Khan and Malik Kafur towards the South. When
Haji Khan reached Kadur, he was surprised to come across
a few Muslims there, (vide- A Survey of Indian History -
K.M. Panikkar). Following his enquiry, he came to B.B.
Hills, paid his respects to Hazrat Jan-e-Pak and got his
blessings. Success greeted him wherever he went after
this. Malik Kafur was also lucky to receive the blessings
of Hazrat Jan-e-Pak before advancing further in the
South. When he came to pay his respects on his return
journey, he learnt of the death of Hazrat Jan-e-Pak in an
ambush. He punished all the neighboring chieftains,
responsible for this.
It is open for research,
how Hazrat Syed Meeran Baba came to be known as Jan-e-Pak
and Budan Baba. He had camped beside a tank at Tarikere
on the way to these hills and that tank is still called
Budan Talab. He lived in the nearby village of Athigundi
and it was called Budan Nagar. Chandra Drona Parvata
adopted his name and became famous later, as Baba Budan
Hills.
India today finds a
prominent place in the coffee map of the world for the
quality of coffee grown here. The credit for bringing
coffee to India according to all authorities including
the official records goes to Hazrat Jan-e-Pak alias Baba
Budan. It was not his mission however to encourage coffee
plantations and start coffee industry. We are indebted to
Hazrat Syed Shah Jamaluddin-Al-Maghribi for
this.
Hazrat Syed Shah
Jamaluddin-Al-Maghribi
As you go towards the
office from the Dargah, you see a number of graves on
both sides. Many great saints came over here, attracted
by Dada. Many of them settled down here itself and were
buried after their death. Sajjada Nishins of the past are
also buried here. A few steps from the gate to the right,
there is an enclosure, with a lone tree inside, which has
the grave of Hazrat Syed Shah
Jamaluddin-Al-Maghribi.
It is obvious that from
the very beginning this centre worked under the guidance
and supervision of Dada. Whenever he was away, he used to
place a suitable person in charge of the routine affairs.
The death of that person posed Dada the problem of
selecting a successor. At last Dada decided to have a
worthy person who during his life, and whose descendants
after him, should be in charge of this centre. His choice
fell upon Hazrat Syed Shah Jamaluddin-Al-Maghribi. Hazrat
Syed Shah was a native of Yemen. After visiting Khorasan,
Kabul, Kashmir and other parts of India, he came to
Bidar. King Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur was lucky to
recognize the greatness of Hazrat, brought him to Bijapur
and became his disciple. He took Hazrat along with him in
all his campaigns and he was always victorious. After the
conquest of Vijayanagar Kingdom, he advanced towards the
South. When he came to Baba Budan Hills, Hazrat expressed
his desire to settle down here. All the entreaties of Ali
Adil Shah were in vain. This was the beginning of a new
chapter in the history of the institution. Hazrat
reorganized the administration and sent worthy men to
different places to guide people in the path of
righteousness. He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Medina
and other holy places once again, and while returning
brought fresh coffee seeds, so that people here might
take to regular cultivation of coffee and make an honest
living. He encouraged people to grow coffee and
supervised the growth of this industry. Very soon, the
valleys in the region were full of coffee plantations.
Not contented with this, he sent people with coffee seeds
to distant places like Coorg and the Nilgiris. People in
this region believed that these emissaries of Hazrat were
the first to bring coffee into the country. For instance,
in Coorg both Hindus and Muslims are devotees of Hazrat
Soofi Syed who took coffee to Coorg.
Hazrat died on 22 Shaban
1125 (AH). Before his death, he appointed his nephew
Hazrat Syed Moosa Hussain Shah, the Sajjada Nishin of the
institution. Ever since then, the same family has been
managing the affairs of this institution. Hazrat Syed
Peer Mohammed Shah Khadri, the present Sajjada Nishin
hails from the same family.
For reasons not known,
Hazrat Syed Shah Jamaluddin also became famous as Baba
Budan during his lifetime.
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