Erwadi dargah

The Erwadi dargah is a holy Islamic sacred tomb turned shrine of Qutbus Sultan Syed Ibrahim Badusha, also spelled Saeed Ibrahim Uliullah or Seyyad Ali. It is located in the Erwadi village in Ramanathapuram district in India. The main dargah which came to be established is dedicated to Seyyad Ali. There are three other dargahs here, one of Shahid's mother Fathima, the second is of his wife Seyyad Ali Fathima and the third of his son Abu Thahir. The land for building the darghas was a gift from the Maharaja of Ramanathapuram and dargha, and the Nawab of Arcot built the main dargah in the Arab year of 1207 and named it Ektibagh.The dargah is well known for healing mentally deranged people, and about 1,000 devotees of all religious beliefs visit the shrine every day. The cure offered to the sick people is only the holy water from the dargha twice a day, apart from prayers.HistorySaeed Ibrahim Uliullah, also called Quthbus Sultan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed Valiyullahal, king from Saudi Arabia (it is also said that he was from Morocco), came to Erwadi during 530 Hijri year when it was under the reign of Maharaja Vijaya Regunatha Sethupathi, King of Madurai. He came with intent to preach Islam. The Sultan performed many magical feats which impressed the king who then gifted him with of land. However, it is said that king was blessed with an heir when he prayed and drank the holy water at the dargah for 41 days. Following this Hindus of the village, impressed with the miracles performed by the Sultan, wanted to convert to Islam. At that time the king who had succeeded Sethupathi was Vikrama Pandya who opposed this conversion of Hindus. As a result of this opposition there was a battle between the Seyyad Ali and Vikrama Pandya in which the former was killed along with members of his family including his son who was only of 17 years age. Seyyad Ali became a martyr and the tomb where he was buried became a dargah or saintly place. People have great trust in the magical powers of the dargha which has resulted in unity among the Muslim and Hindu communities. The shrine has become a very popular place for healing mentally deranged people as it is believed that the water and the oil from a lamp from the dargha has spiritual healing powers and is administered to the sick people.