VISITING DARGHAS
Every week and every month had times for observing one rite or other. Prominent among them was fasting. Men and women fasted on Mondays and Thursdays, though not always for the same reason. While one such reason was to earn Sawab, women often fasted for the grant of long life and health of the husband, as well as the discharge of a vow to fast if a given wish were fulfilled. Men would never miss a Friday mass, while women were never admitted into a mosque. Interestingly they could visit and pay their homage at the mausoleum of a Peer (Religious Leader or Saint) or Aulia, standing behind a wall that shielded them from the Qabr.
There were some three such places in the city of Thiruvananthapuram and a few others around Cutchi Memon settlements at Nadayara, Kollam, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha, and Arattupuzha where they could attend. One of the choicest shrines was that of Beema Beevi and her son Maheen Abubackar, both Sufi legends, known as Beema Palli. The shrine was once famous for curing mental diseases and banishing Jinn and Shaitan from the bodies of young women, supposed to have been infested with such supernatural beings, with the miraculous powers of the Aulias
Another frequently visited shrine was that of Nagore Meeran Sahib at Nagapattinam, in Tamilnadu. It was reached by country craft upto Kollam or Shencottai by Tapal Vandi and thereafter by train via Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur. Yet another place of importance for the people of Thiruvananthapuram was the shrine of Peer Mohammad Sahib at Thackalay, also in the present Tamilnadu, near the ancient capital of Venad (Later Travancore), Padmanabhapuram, the only access to which was the Tapal Gadi, until the launching of eight seater steam bus service by Lakshmi Vilas Bus Service in 1914 (afterwards bought by the Pioneer Motors).A common feature of all these Durghas was to keep one or more oil lamps, burning with gingelly oil or castor oil and to have the tomb covered with green or red sheets (Chaddar). Oil from the lamps, mixed with the water from the well on the premises was believed to have medicinal properties. Taking bath with the spring water from the well was considered as cure for skin diseases including leprosy and for mental disorders. It was also believed that Shreds of the Chaddar that shrouded the Aulia’s qabr, when tied on one’s wrist, gave miraculous cure to almost every kind of disease, agonies and maladies; at least that hastened the healing process. Another interesting vow was to roll coins in value of 5¼ units (Rupees, Fanams, Chakrams, Annas) in a piece of cloth and either to tie it on the upper right arm of the patient or to keep it under the pillow until cured and to donate the same to the shrine or to give away as charity in the name of Peeran Peer, the Great Seer Ghausul Azam Sheikh Mohayuddin Abdul Qadir Gilani (RA) of Baghdad from whom the Qadriya Tarika originated.