A mosque revered by Hindus : Religious harmony, Kerala Style ! :)

[A1Kaid]

Vavar, was a Muslim saint.There is a shrine dedicated to Vavaraswami at Sabarimala, as well as Varaswamis mosque at Ezhumeli next to an Ayyappa temple. The devotion of Vavaraswami to Ayyappan and the key role that the Islamic Masjid has in the Ayyappa Pilgrimage, highlights the communal harmony in Kerala.

The devotion of Vavaraswami also highlights the relevance of Ayyappa devotion for members of all faiths, and the equality shown to all, whether they are Muslims, Hindus or Christians.

Legend behind the Mosque.......

There are many legends about Vavar and his association with Ayyappa. Some believe that Vavarswami was a Muslim saint who migrated from Arabia to India with the intention of spreading Islam. Others suggest that he was a warrior who reached the shore of Kerala as a pirate in a ship to loot and plunder. During his encounter with Lord Ayyappa, he was defeated and subdued by the Lord. Since then Vavar became a close associate of Lord Ayyappa and helped him in the wars in the mountainous region.

The old sword on the wall of the Vavar shrine symbolises the eminence of Vavar as a great warrior. It is believed that the Lord Ayyappa himself instructed the King of Pandala Desam to build a mosque for Vavar at Erumeliin Kottayam District and a shrine at Sabarimala.

En route the pilgrimage to Sabarimala during the makaravilakku season almost all of the Ayyappa devotees will come to Erumely and perform the ritual. Pettathullal (Ritual Dance) starts from the small temple situated at the heart of Erumely town known as 'Kochambalam". From there the dance procession advance to the Muslim mosque called 'Vavar palli' opposite to Kochambalam and the devotees worship 'Vavarswamy'.

Finally the procession ends up at Dharmasastha temple known as 'Valliyambalam.'

Shrine

There is a shrine dedicated to Vavaraswami in Sabarimala next to the main temple. As per Islamic teachings there is no idol, but just a carved stone slab symbolises the deity of Vavarswami. A green coloured silk cloth is hung across one of the three walls. The fourth side is open. An old sword is also kept near the wall. The main offering to Vavarswami is black pepper. .


Another Source......

Another prominent deity near `Pathinettam Padi' (eighteen steps) is `Vavarswami'. The deity of Vavar is believed to be as old as the deity of Ayyappa. The estimated time of the most recent major remodeling of the temple happened during the year A. D. 1905. There is no distinguishable idol, but just a carved stone slab symbolises the deity of Vavarswami. A green coloured silk cloth is hung across one of the three walls. The fourth side is open. An old sword is also kept near the wall. The main offering to Vavarswami is green pepper. A Hundi (a donation box) is kept in front of this shrine, into which one can drop cash/coins etc. In addition to green pepper, rose water and sandalwood paste along with coconut and `ghee' (clarified butter) are also offered by the pilgrims. Some of the pilgrims bring goats to Vavarswami. This is mainly due to a belief that the pilgrims accompanied by goats could reach the Sannidhanam safely. The authorities auctions these goats later.

Some of the families at Vaipur near Thiruvalla in Alapuzha district claim to be the 14th or 15th line of descendants of Vavarswami. The descendants of Vavar are believed to be Vaidyas practicing the Unani(Greek) system of medicine. They were believed to be Brahmins who had later converted to Islam. However, there is another interesting story relating to Vavar. According to this reference, Vavar originally belonged to Pandya Desam near Madurai in Tamil Nadu (currently Chennai). The myth says that the Vavar family migrated to Travancore during an attack from Thirumalainaicken, a minister of the Pandya kingdom.

There are other legends too about Vavar and his association with Ayyappa. Some believe that Vavarswami was a Muslim saint who migrated from Arabia to India with the intention of spreading Islam. Others suggest that he was a warrior who reached the shore of Kerala as a pirate in a ship to loot and plunder. During his encounter with Lord Ayyappa, he was defeated and subdued by Lord Ayyappa. Since then Vavar became a close associate of Lord Ayyappa and helped him in the wars in the mountainous region. The old sword on the wall of the Vavar shrine symbolises the eminence of Vavar as a great warrior. It is believed that the Lord Ayyappa Himself instructed the King of Pandala Desam to build a mosque for Vavar at Erumeli and a shrine at Sabarimala.

Cool story bro...

 

[nForce]

Please get your idealogies straight there is no such thing as islamic saint. Islam forbids the culture and creation of saints and mythical figures. This culture actually flew from Hindu practices into some communities of identity confused people.

I wouldnt call it any sort of harmony or toleance but rather ignorance. Dont have a problem with Hindus going into mosque for education but confuding between Islam and idolism is not.

okay..saint maynot be the correct term..but islam do recognize the concept of Prophet....

 

[mautkimaut]

okay..saint maynot be the correct term..but islam do recognize the concept of Prophet....

Then what about Sufism...?

 

[arsalabbasi]

so here you go .. Deoband vs baelvi .

Yes i agree with you
Yaro please for god Sake we are the only Muslims. Dont obey your Mullahs, Your Cultural Traditions adopted in Islam personally but dont heart any other Muslim Brother. Just smile in your on his thought if he is wrong.
Peace , Harmony , Patient, love to every Muslim even he is not true Muslim according to your views just hug him & pray for him to be at right Path
Pakistan will change when we will change & live without sects

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Too often in India I notice certain Muslims worshipping or showing respect to idols, building monuments and shrines to Suffi saints. Some Muslims also conduct practices which are similar to Hindu practices and when I question them they respond that it is their age old traditions from their Hindu forbears which are carried into their current religion. I also see this in Africa in Muslims from the subcontinent. An example is the fact that they mourn for 40 (?) days whereas I think that the Islamic practice is that one should mourn for 3 (?) days after the death of a loved one. Not being judgemental. Just responding to the statement about "dirty uncovered peasants". Seems like that there no longer exists one brand of Islam. Hindu converts seem to be adopting the best of both worlds so those "dirty peasants" could very well be your Muslim brothers

 

[Swati Shukla]

so here you go .. Deoband vs baelvi .

It's 'bareilvi'. It is called bareilvi movement because Ahmad Raza's home city was BAREILLY. PROUD TO BE A BAREILLIITE.

 

[kingkobra]

saints and their dargahs are not allowed as per islam..

 

[Spring Onion]

so according to the story Vavarswami was a Muslim who came from Arab land to Kerala and he still has a hindu name Vavarswami????

BTW We Muslims do NOT revere Mosques , these are just places to gather for offering our daily prayers.

 

[Peshwa]

This thread was opened with a good cause....

I do not see why people are being so damn negative? Dont we need more places and followers like this so we can remove the Hindu-Muslim divide?

At least we know that this mosque will never face the same fate as the Babri Masjid....

 

[Peshwa]

so according to the story Vavarswami was a Muslim who came from Arab land to Kerala and he still has a hindu name Vavarswami????

People change names.....or sometimes their followers give saints the name that has special meaning in the local dialect....Maybe ask a Keralite...

Also...Not sure why you're so surprised....You guys still have names that represent your Indian/Hindu past lineages such as Rana.....

BTW We Muslims do NOT revere Mosques , these are just places to gather for offering our daily prayers.

If you dont, then why the hue and cry about Babri Masjid?

 

[Trisonics]

Here an Indian imam spreads more light. This was recorded by Dalrymple.

"All the Muslims welcome these people," I was told by the grey-bearded imam, Hajji Abdul Karim, who was sitting quietly telling his prayer beads in a corner of the rush-matted prayer hall. "Every year at the start of the pilgrimage season we make a procession from here to the temple, where the Hindu priests receive us. Then we all go on to the church, where the Christian priests make us welcome. We have never heard of anyone opposing any of this."

"It doesn't sound very Islamic," I said.

"We Muslims believe in only one God," said the imam. "But we respect all religions. The Hindus respect Vavar, and we believe also that he was a great saint. So where is the problem? They believe what they believe. But if they come here we must be hospitable and make them welcome."

"But all over so much of the rest of India you find different religions fighting."

"That is exactly why this place is so important," he replied. "It's not just India. The whole world is fighting about religion. But this is a place where you can show the light of peace, a place that brings all religions together. All human beings are equal here. There is a lesson here for everybody."

"And no one makes trouble about this?"

"No one. Why should they? In fact we all feel sad when the pilgrimage season ends and the mosque becomes quiet again. We feel an emptiness in our hearts."

"We are living in a world where people are killing each other in the name of religion," the imam added as I thanked him and headed towards the door. "So we are very proud that something like this is happening here."

My travels: William Dalrymple in Kerala | Travel | The Guardian

 

[desioptimist]

It shows only one thing: Hindus are ritualistic and superstitious. The whole ayappa thing is a farce with active state involvement.

 

[Salik]

BTW We Muslims do NOT revere Mosques , these are just places to gather for offering our daily prayers.

Hi, can we ask the meaning of 'revere'. We muslims respect the mosques and revere places associated with porphets and saints, just like maqam e Ibrahim, cave of Hira and shrines of sufi saints, we visit these places and pray to God Almighty and believe our prayers are not rejected in these particular places.

By the way look at them how they return out of the mosque, they don't direct their back towards it, utmost respect isn't it.

 

[Spring Onion]

Hi, can we ask the meaning of 'revere'. We muslims respect the mosques and revere places associated with porphets and saints, just like maqam e Ibrahim, cave of Hira and shrines of sufi saints, we visit these places and pray to God Almighty and believe our prayers are not rejected in these particular places.

By the way look at them how they return out of the mosque, they don't direct their back towards it, utmost respect isn't it.

Surely revering/respecting is one thing what i wanted to say the way this word revere is materialised for a mosque in this case is physically worshiping .

anyway my point is we dont worship mosques.

 

[Spring Onion]

It shows only one thing: Hindus are ritualistic and superstitious. The whole ayappa thing is a farce with active state involvement.

Thanks for reminding me the word i was looking for. yes its more like actualising everything

why the state is patronising it? tourism ?