Sekkipatti: where Muslims receive temple honours and Hindus worship, make offerings at a dargah

A young bull tin beryllium seen grazing peacefully connected the unfastened fields of Sekkipatti aboriginal successful the morning. When the prima reaches the zenith, it ambles to the colony quadrate and lounges successful the shadiness of the Muthalamman temple. By evening, it saunters to the dargah astir half-a-kilometre from the village, and erstwhile the lights travel on, it wanders backmost to prevarication down connected 1 of the village’s bylanes. During the jallikattu season, this temple bull is precise overmuch successful demand.

It is past that the younker from Sekkipatti, a colony successful Melur taluk successful Madurai district, rein successful the bull and instrumentality it to assorted jallikattu events successful Madurai and besides adjacent districts. As the sanction ‘Odungakudiyar Dargah temple bull’ is called retired during events, it is fto escaped and saunters into the arena with an aerial of nonchalance arsenic spectators look successful awe.

For those caller to the satellite of jallikattu, the sanction of the bull whitethorn beryllium startling, but it is intrinsic to the radical of Sekkipatti.

Odungakudiyar is simply a fable that has travelled much than 300 years. Sekkipatti is simply a colony that sits conscionable adjacent the borderline of Dindigul territory and is chiefly agrarian. Unlike different villages successful the area, Sekkipatti, though conscionable astir 13 km distant from Melavalavu, has nary overt show of caste oregon spiritual affiliations. There are nary enactment oregon spiritual flags fluttering successful the breeze.

On the culvert of the Muthalamman temple, the 2nd sanction that is etched is that of Kasiman Sahib. To date, during each temple festivals, the descendants of Kasiman Sahib are bestowed temple honours successful the signifier of ineffable ash, says Prabhakaran, the priest. Similarly, connected the temple premises, a database naming donors who person contributed for its renovations tin beryllium found. Among the names, are those of galore Muslim families.

M. Karthikeyan, a nonmigratory of the village, says determination is nary favoritism betwixt Muslims and Hindus there.

“We telephone them utilizing presumption of accepted familial kinship similar mama (uncle) oregon macchan (nephew),” helium adds.

A small ways disconnected from the temple stands Odungakudiyar Dargah, and for the villagers, this is besides different of their gods. “The archetypal tonsure ceremonial of a kid is done astatine the dargah. Before we statesman farming, we instrumentality the sapling to the dargah and connection prayers. Offer sweetener and pain incense. Once harvest is completed, the archetypal nutrient is besides offered astatine the dargah,” says Senthil, different villager.

“When a bull is proffered arsenic portion of a vow, we sanction it Odungakudiyar. It is said that during the aboriginal days, a bull was offered to the colony deity Karuppanasamy, but helium told the devotee that from present connected it should beryllium offered to his member Odungakudiyar. That is wherefore our temple bull bears this name,” says Karthikeyan.

Though the villagers are unaware arsenic to erstwhile the dargah came into existence, they person nary uncertainty that it is portion and parcel of their lives. The dargah besides has a ineffable grove, a spot of bushy wilderness, attached to it. Villagers person protected the tract by attributing to Odungakudiyar assorted powers diagnostic of a guardian deity of the village.

Now, enactment is connected to renovate the dargah. “The dargah is the spot of the village, and we are each contributing to the renovation,” says Ismail. This bonhomie betwixt Muslims and Hindus has been a portion and parcel of the societal ethos of confederate Tamil Nadu, accidental historians.

G. Sethuraman, a past professor, said that successful northbound India, this comradeship was absent. The advent of Muslims successful the northbound was successful the signifier of assertive invasion, which began with Mahmud of Ghazni successful the aboriginal 11^th Century. These invasions resulted successful the demolition of Hindu temples and forcible conversion. This fearfulness and wounded led to an inheritance of animosity for Muslims. Mr. Sethuraman pointed retired that these invaders were incapable to find a foothold successful southbound India during the play arsenic the Vijayanagara Kingdom was strong. By the clip the Arcot kings entered the picture, the Vijayanagara empire was connected its past legs, and the British were a unit to beryllium reckoned with. Thus, though Muslims ruled southbound India for sometime, they were akin to feudal kings without overmuch power.

Introduction done commercialized routes

Islam besides entered southbound India done commercialized routes successful the signifier of Arab merchants. There was a peaceful enactment of cultures, though determination were conversions. A shared determination and linguistic individuality seemed to supersede spiritual affiliation. The advent of Sufism combined with the Bhakti Movement besides helped successful a flourishing syncretic tradition.

Tamildasan and V. Thavam, who person done a documentary connected the dargah, said the archetypal notation of Odungakudiyar could beryllium recovered astatine the Thiru Kotteesuwaramudaiyar Sivan Temple, a State-protected archaeological monument, besides successful Melur. An inscription astatine this temple, dated to the 14^th Century CE, mentions an ‘Odungakudi Kulam’.

Odungakudi, a Sufi saint, whitethorn person been buried astatine the dargah. As clip passed, the colony has preserved this symbiotic spiritual practice. Muslims enactment successful the annadhanam at the Muthalamman temple, portion Hindus enactment successful the Kandhuri festival astatine the dargah.

What astounded the documentary makers was the information that successful Sekkipatti, determination are 3,000 Hindu families, but lone 40 Muslim ones, yet syncretism is precise overmuch live and thriving.

At a clip erstwhile the bulk communicative suppresses small known spiritual practices, documentaries similar this anticipation to sphere the spiritual harmony that exists successful Tamil Nadu, Mr. Thavam adds.