Bangalore Karaga - The Karaga and The Dargah

The Karaga and The Dargah

One of the distinctive features of the Karaga is the participation in this festival by people of all creeds and communities. An eloquent testimony to the secular character of this festival is seen just before sunrise when the Karaga procession halts before the Dargah-e-Shariff of Hazrat Takwal Mastan Shah, the 18th century Muslim saint. The Dargah of Tawakkal Mastan bears testimony to our syncretic cultural legacy. THE DARGAH of Tawakkal Mastan in Cottonpet stands testimony to our syncretic cultural legacy, a valued tradition that has been seriously threatened in recent times. In an interesting development, the two religious systems came together at one point in time, and the annual Karaga of Dharmaraya Swamy visiting Tawakkal Dargah became a tradition. It is considered a sacrilege for the person carrying the Karaga to drop it. The story goes that during Tawakkal's time, one particular year, the person carrying the Karaga stopped at Tawakkal Mastan Dargah and asked for his blessings so that Karaga would not fall off his head. Tawakkal blessed him and asked him to utter "Din, Din".

The tradition continues to this day and the Karaga-carriers visit the dargah three days prior to the Karaga puja begins. He visits the dargah on the day of the Karaga as well, with the Karaga on his head. When he arrives, the fateha, ritual is performed, after which the Karaga-carrier goes round the dargah thrice. He walks the first round, goes around on his knees on the second, and dances around the dargah on the third. After this, the caretaker of the dargah and the Karaga carrier exchange lemons.

Hindus and Muslims enthusiastically participate in this ritual. This interaction among them is very important because people of both religions have traditionally occupied that part of the city for generations. Friendly co-existence is important when people of different cultures share geographic space closely. Such rituals bring about social interactions that are symbolic – here the interactions are an expression of the shared interest that both cultures have. It is in both their interests to maintain friendship. The religious rituals symbolises communal amity.