Kannur, off National Highway 75, near Mangaluru, is gearing up for the annual Urs of Hazrath Valiullah Dargah Sharief Nadupalli, located on a Kudru (river island) in the midst of the Netravathi, scheduled on January 4 and 5.
While many Urs are held across the region, the Nadupalli Urs appears unique in nature as the event brings together people from all religions. The dargah committee has been building a temporary bridge using boats to connect the mainland and the island for the last five years for this purpose, said Ahmed Iqbal, general secretary of Badriya Juma Masjid, Kannur.
Mohammed Mustafa, a local businessman, told The Hindu that people earlier used to cross the Netravathi on boats to visit the dargah. Since the number of devotees increased exponentially, and women devotees were not supposed to be touched by men while they embarked or disembarked a boat, the temporary bridge was conceptualised, he said.
Also, Mr. Iqbal noted that communal amity begins right from building the temporary bridge with Hindus, Christians and Muslims lending their boats free for the purpose. This continues till the Urs where people from all religions offer their prayers at the Valiullah Dargah at Nadupalli. About 60-65 boats are lined up and joined using metal sheets to build the temporary bridge, he said. Earlier, the Urs was being held during daylight only as crossing the river on boats was not safe in the dark, Mr. Iqbal said and added that after the temporary bridge came into place, the Urs is being held till about 8 p.m. People from across the region participate in the Urs to offer prayers and their numbers go up to one lakh, he said.
Local residents say that the dargah was well known for granting wishes of farmers. There were instances of farmers affected by lack of rain offering gruel mixed with jaggery to the dargah and their wishes getting fulfilled. The Urs at the new dargah, adjacent to NH 75 in Kannur, is held once in five years, Mr. Iqbal added.
