YAMANUR (Dharwad District): On every Thursday and on ‘Amavasya' (New Moon Day), Abdul Rasool gets busy selling flowers, incense sticks, coconuts and sugar to the devotees who throng Yamanur village in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district.
There is nothing unusual in what he does, but what stands out is that the devotees are a mixed bag of people — Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
Yamanur, a tiny village located off Hubli-Solapur highway, has a steady stream of visitors belonging to all faiths from far off places because of the presence of a ‘temple-cum-dargah'.
For Hindus it is the temple of ‘Changdev Maharaj' and for Muslims it is the dargah of ‘Raja Bagsawar'.
Two pujas are performed for Changdev Maharaj every day — in the morning and in the evening. While members of the Barge family conduct the puja, one member of the Makandar family (a Muslim family) attends them. And when Muslim devotees visit the dargah, the mullah, Mehboobsab Makandar, offers ‘Fatiha' (prayer) for them.
While Hindus believe that ‘Ugra Narasimha Saligrama' is beneath the tomb and Changdev Maharaj was a man of miracles, Muslims believe in the powers of Raja Bagsawar.
The legend is that Changdev Maharaj was a saint who lived in the 12th century and had the power to solve problems of his devotees. Subsequently, a temple (‘gadduge') was built in his name. But when Muslim invaders attacked, the family looking after the temple, in a bid to save the shrine, kept ‘panjas' (usually kept in dargahs) near the tomb. On seeing the panjas, the invaders did not harm the temple, and subsequently Muslims too started offering prayers there.
According to another legend, Changdev Maharaj used to ride a tiger and so the name Raja Bagsawar (king who rides a tiger) came to be associated with him, said 72-year-old Pandurang Barge, whose family is among the 12 families that maintains the temple.
The Makandar family does not have much information as to how both Muslims and Hindus started worshipping at the same place. Rajesab, elder brother of Mehboobsab Makandar, told The Hindu that more people offer prayers to Raja Bagsawar than to Changdev Maharaj. Devotees from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra too visit the shrine, he said.
While the devout believe that the deity can solve their problems, there is another belief that a bath in the Benni Halla (stream) will cure skin diseases.
Every year after Holi festival, both Hindus and Muslims join hands to celebrate a fair (urs) of Changdev Maharaj/Raja Bagsawar which attracts a large number of people.
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