When Muslims all over the globe give a keen ear to the Magrib azan (prayer call) for Iftar, a large number of people in and around Wandoor in the district still depend on the sound of dynamite.
The tradition of firing two dynamite blasts to alert people about the time of Iftar is still followed at Wandoor. When most places have discontinued this system in the wake of the prevalence of quartz watches and an increase in the number of prayer calls from minarets, the Pallikkunnu Juma Masjid at Wandoor continues this century-old practice.
Kathina vedi, as it is called in local parlance, has a tradition of more than a century. Even if the call of the muezzin for Iftar is heard from mosques, people wait for the sound of the Kathina vedi. “It gives us an assurance and satisfaction that it is time to break the fast,” said Akbarali Charankavu from Wandoor.
“Today people may have all kinds of gadgets to know the exact time of the sunset. Yet, when it comes to alerting the people about the Iftar time, the tradition dominates here,” he said.
M. Mohammed, a marriage broker by profession, has been handling the Kathina at Pallikkunnu for the past three decades. None else has come forward to take up this job as he stays put at Pallikkunnu throughout the month of Ramzan.
The sound of the Kathina is heard across several kilometres. And a lot of people living at Ayanikkode, Tiruvali, Poongodu, and other neighbouring places continue to depend on the daily twin blasts of the twilight for their Iftar.
