Miraculous Reappearance of 'Bara Alam' Bijapur

 Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

Bijapur, the capital of Adil Shahi dynasty, has been a leading center of Muharram ceremonies for centuries. Commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his companions had reached its zenith during the rule of Ali Adil Shah who had declared Shiism as state faith.Huge processions were taken out during his time and Bara Alam was considered as the most popular among all standard processions. It is no longer so, for Hussaini Alam has replaced its in terms of popularity due to an act of rage by a caretaker of Bara Alam. It is said that in first quarter of 20^th century the caretaker Habban Saheb Jagirdar due to internal quarrel threw the Alam in the water of roofed- well at the Dargah of Shah Karim Qadri. He remained alive till 1987 but didn’t reveal as to where has he thrown the Alam. Miraculously, a lady found the Alam when Bijapur suffered famine and most of its well dried up  in 1970-72 except the well at Dargah. Bara Alam was reinstalled during the next Muharram but by then Hussaini Alam had become quite popular. Every lover of Panjatan Pak must be aware of Bara Alam of Bijapur as it remained in water for almost half a decade but suffered no damage.Probably,Bara Alam is the only one of its kind in Indian sub-continent that reflects haughtiness of a caretaker of a shrine and miraculous reappearance of a standard after fifty years.

Reference : Available on request.