Chandikhol: Atop the Aalamgiri hill under Barchana block in Jajpur district, a shrine of ‘Satya Pir’ is located. The shrine has been displaying exemplary brotherhood and communal harmony for hundreds of years.
Looking like a dome from a distance, people refer to it as ‘Dargah’. Both Hindus and Muslims have been visiting the shrine for more than 800 years as a place of worship.
This shrine is unique because the ‘Shirni bhog’ offered here is prepared by Hindus. Those who present the ‘bhog’ however are Muslims. Every Thursday, the shrine comes alive with hundreds of devotees thronging there to offer their prayers.
There is a pair of wooden sandal or Kathau as people call them. The devotees visiting this shrine worship this pair of sandals. To perform various jobs at the shrine like beating drums, offering flowers and taking wooden sandals to villages, servitors have been engaged. Those who are presently serving at the Dargah have been doing this for generations.
The shrine of ‘Pir Baba’ is located on plain land atop the hill spreading over five acres. Earlier colourful fairs were organised around the Dargah. Now however, those have stopped.
Folklore has it that the shrine has magical healing powers. Elderly persons in the know of things said that villages hit by cholera or chicken pox used the sandals to prevent the spread of the diseases. “Whenever, the sandals were taken to the affected villages, the disease would disappear mysteriously,” said a senior resident of the locality. People of nearby Charinangal, Manduka, Nalipur and Gopalpur villages also had many such instances to narrate.
You cannot get someone who can say for sure how old is the dome. But, historian Harishchandra Prusty believes it dates back to 12th or 13th century.
Every year, the ‘World Heritage Week’ is observed from November 19 at the site of the dome. During the week, meetings and seminars are organised and decisions are taken to develop the heritage sites. However, development work has never started. This is the reason why the shrine is facing several problems.
Earlier, people would cultivate the lands around the shrine as a token of respect for ‘Pir Baba’. Now, however, nothing happens as most of the land is encroached upon.
Local people say the ancient shrine has all the qualities that a famous religious tourist spot requires. It only needs government attention. Once the spot is developed, it will attract tourists from far and near. They have urged the government to announce the shrine as a tourist spot during the ongoing ‘World Heritage Week’ and take steps for its overall development.
PNN