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Sunday, August 14, 2016

The Holy Paanch peer (Anjanamar) Five Shuhadaas Dargah, Manamadurai, Sivaganga

The Holy Paanch peer (Anjanamar) Five Shuhadaas Dargah, Manamadurai, Sivaganga
The Holy Paanch peer (Anjanamar) Five Shuhadaas Dargah is located at Kannar Road, Manamadurai in Sivaganga District. The Panchpeer durgah is at Kannar road, on the Manamadurai-Ilayangudi State Highway. The Graves of Five Martyrs who came with Badusha Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed of Ervadi is found here.

History
The five martyrs belong to 13th century who came as soldiers in the army of Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar Badusha of Jeddah. Badusha Sulthan Syed Ibrahim shaheed Labswh of Erwadi won the Madurai province against the King Thiru Pandiyan who refused to embrace Islam, and made Hazrat Sulthan Iskandhar Badusha as the emperor of Madurai. The rule of Hazrat Sulthan Sikandar badusha was peaceful and people were happy with the way Hazrat ruled in the basics of sharia. King Tiru pandiyan who was defeated went to Tirupati, met all his friends and briefed about the invasion of the Arabs. They helped him with formation of large troop.
Madurai War:
After forming a big and healthy troop to face the Arabs, King Thiruppandiyan started towards Madurai. The emperor of Madurai Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar Badhusha, who was unaware about this secret turnaround of Thiruppandiyan, concentrated in flourishing Islam and in the welfare of the people rather than strengthening the army. Thiruppandiyan who came with a strong army fought with Hazrath Sulthan Sikandhar Badhusha Razi vigorously. Thousands of soldiers were killed on both sides; rivers of blood flowed in Madurai.
Journey towards Erwadi:
The Arabs were in need of more troops to face the Pandiyas. Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar Badhusha sent nine of his soldiers to inform Hazrat Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed the emperor of Bouthiramanikkapattinam (now Erwadi) to inform about the war and the need for additional troop. Afraid of more soldiers arriving from Ervadi, King Thiruppandiyan sent a large number of his soldiers to stop those nine Arabian soldiers who were travelling towards Erwadi. Hazrat Syed Salaar Sha Shaheed Razi was killed at Palli Chandai near Silaiman and Hazrat Syed Ibrahim Shaheed Razi at Karseri near Sakkimangalam. The remaining seven soldiers fought bravely and continued their journey towards Ervadi.
War and Martyrdom:
Again a large group of Pandiyan soldiers followed them up and a rigorous war held at Manamadurai. The soldiers fought bravely though they were less in number. A few tens of pandiyan soldiers were killed and the war still held rigorously in which five of the Arabian soldiers were martyred. Those five martyrs are the one whose graves are found here in this Dargah. From that day that place in Kannar road, Manamadurai became significant and with the Miracles of Panch shuhadaas, number of visitors kept on increasing day by day.
Message to Ervadi:
The remaining two soldiers travelled hard to convey the message to the Emperor of Erwadi. Hazrat Umar Khattab Shaheed Razi was martyred at Kilavaneri near Meesal. The only soldier who was alive was injured brutally by the Pandiyas. But somehow he managed to reach Bouthiramanikkapattinam and conveyed the message of Thiuppandiyan's invasion back to Madurai. Hazrat Sulthan Syed Ibrahim badusha was saddened by this and sent a large troop towards Madurai.
Hazrat Sikandhar Badhusha's Martyrdom:
Before the troop could reach Madurai, the tough war at Madurai came to end and Thiruppandiyan captured the throne back. Hazrath Sulthan Sikandhar Badhusha shaheed rested at Tiruparankundram caves for prayers and peace. Even after capturing the throne, king Thiruppandiyan was afraid of Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar Badusha and the Arabian forces surging back. So he was in search of Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar badhusha shaheed. Thousands of soldiers were sent in search. One of the mal'oon from the soldiers of pandiya martyred Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar badhusha Shaheed Raziyallah ta'ala anhu during His prostration in prayers.
Immediately the Pandiya soldier turned blind. Realizing this to be the Curse by the Karamat of Hazrat Sulthan Sikandhar badhusha, they intended to bury the Holy Jasada Mubarak at the top of the hill as per Islamic regulations. A big rock flew and covered the Qabr of Hazrat Sulthan Iskandhar badusha and the pandiyan soldier got his vision back. This is one of the Millions of Miracles (Karaamaat) of Hazrat Sulthaan Sikandhar Badhusha.
Panch Shaheed Miracles & Dargah
The Holy Panchpeer (Anjanamar) dargah is the famous Islamic shrine in Sivaganga district. Thousands of HinduMuslim and Christian people throng this dargah for their wishes. In 1930, Salt Satyagraha was the important fight of Indian independence movement in civil disobedience against the Salt tax levied by the British government. To crush the movement the British government had put a ban on Salt. People were in shortage of Salt since carrying and selling of Salt was a crime according to the English East India Company government.
Rowther Muslim from a village called Nallur who was a salt merchant was on his way to sell his salt for his livelihood. On his way he crossed the Check point of the British Government security officials. That Rowther merchant was frightened to see the check post and was nervous that he would be imprisoned for trading salt. Being helpless he shouted and sought help from the Five Shuhadaas of Manamadurai, inside his mind.
In spite of his nervousness and fear he was hopeful that Panch Shaheedh will help him. His vehicle was brought near the check point and the officials tore an edge of his salt bags with a Siege hook. To his belief and wonder, Sugar Crystals fell from his bags by the Karamat of Punch Shuhadhaa. Believing to be Sugar the British officials left him. When he came away from the check post he could see his Salts remaining as such as salts in his bags. He sold all the salts for higher price and got threefold profit for his trade this time since the demand was very high. This was possible only by the Karaamaat of Khamsa (Five) Shuhadaas of Manamadurai.
Till today his descendants who are big business men visit the dargah from Nallur very often and give lot of donations to the dargha since their wellbeing is by the Dua of Panch shaheedhaa (n). Today this dargah stands as a symbol of religious harmony and an important tourist location of Manamadurai for all and Muslims in particular yielding much revenue to the people in the town.
Urus Santhanakoodu Festival
The Anniversary Sandanakoodu urus festival of Manamadurai Five Shuhadaas Dargha is held on 17 Jamadil Awwal (Jumada al-Awwal) every Hijri year. Thousands of people from all over Tamil Nadu and Kerala visit this dargah on the day of Urs.
Connectivity
The town is well connected by road to all the cities and towns in Tamil Nadu. The Manamadurai panchayat town Bus terminus situated at the Madurai - Rameswaram national highway caters to the road transportation of the town.
Manamadurai Junction serves the town with state capital Chennai and other places. The Silambu Express starting from Manamadurai running Bi-Weekly connects the town with Chennai. The Rameswaram express and Sethu express run through Manamadurai also connect the town with state capital. Also there are good number of Passenger trains from Madurai and Trichy passing through Manamadurai towards Rameswaram. Nearest Airport is located at Madurai.