The 600-year-old Dargah Sharief of 14th century Sufi saint Hazrath Khaja Banda Nawaz Gesudaraz is all decked up for the five-day 611th Urs-e-Sharief of the saint beginning on Sunday.
The Sufi saint, who was an epitome of religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, strived to build a permanent bondage between Hindus and Muslims in the Hyderabad Karnataka region.
Thousands of devotees from all over the country and abroad will throng the city, which was once the famous capital city of the Bahamani Sultanate, to participate in the urs.
The celebrations will begin with a ‘Khidmat-I-Fatiha’ and ‘Band Sama’ at 8 a.m. in the Dargah Shareif. It will be followed by Namaaz-e-Zuhr in the afternoon and in the evening followed by Namaaz-e-maghrib and Namaaz-e-Isha. An all-India industrial exhibition too will be inaugurated on Sunday.
‘Khidmat-e-Farrashi’ and ‘Band Sama’ will be held in the morning On Monday, followed by the address by Sajjada Nasheen Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini and Namaz-e-Juma, the special prayers at the Dargah Shareif. Special Namaaz-e-Asr would be held in the evening at the Mehboob Gulshan Public Garden and Syed Shah Khusroo Hussaini will lead the traditional special namaaz at the public garden before flagging of the sandal procession. The procession carrying the sandal paste will pass through the Masjid in the Super Market to offer the Namaaz-e-Maghrib before reaching the Dargah Shareif, where it will be received at the ‘Gyarah Sidi’ leading to the Dargah Shareif.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the sandal paste brought in the procession will be anointed on the tomb of Khaja Banda Nawaz, located in the spacious mausoleum built with highly artistic sense by the then Bahamani King Ahmed Shaha Wali Bahamani marking the beginning of the famous Urs-e-Sharief.
