The consecration of Ram Lalla’s idol is to take place in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on 22 January, 2024. On this occasion, celebrities from the country and the world including Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at Ram Janmabhoomi.
The team of OpIndia visited Ayodhya in the last week of December 2023 and introduced people to the untouched aspects of the holy place. On Saturday (30th December 2023), we were at the Raja Dashrath Samadhi site, 12 kilometers away from Ayodhya city.
To our shock, we learnt that a tomb has been built next to Raja Dashrath’s samadhi and a tomb has also been built near another temple located here.
While giving us this information, the Mahant (temple priest) said that the Dargah at both the Hindu religious places is a conspiracy against Hindu culture.
‘Dargah is a conspiracy of cultural attack’
Sandeep Das, the priest of Raja Dashrath Samadhi Sthal, told OpIndia that while the shrine remained a victim of neglect under governments run by parties like Samajwadi Party (SP), a dargah too was built next to it as part of a well-planned conspiracy.
Sandeep said that like the Ram Janmabhoomi, the Raja Dasharatha Samadhi site has also been a victim of attacks by religious invaders in the past but due to the retaliation of Hindus, it could not be captured.
He further said, “When the shrine could not be directly occupied, a tomb was built 100 meters away from it. This tomb came to be known as Belhari Sharif whereas in reality the historical name of this place is Bilvahari.”
According to Sandeep Das, many people who follow the religion of Islam keep coming to the shrine. Loudspeakers were tied in front of the temple and there was frenzied sloganeering.
There is an ancient Hindu mandir, about one and a half kilometers before the Dasharatha Samadhi site. Its name is Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple which is said to be related to Sugriva Fort of Ayodhya.
OpIndia spoke to the priest here, Swami Ramdas. Ramdas told us that the distance of the Dargah from his temple is less than 1 kilometer. The name of the head of the Dargah is Chand Miyan.
Chand Miyan is said to be a religious Ulema of Barelvi sect who gives religious lectures in all parts of the country.
Reminiscing about the time of SP government, Ramdas said that during Islamic festivals, big mics were tied in front of the temple by the people of Dargah. Inciting slogans were raised loudly on these mikes.
People from as far as Nepal visit the Dargah
Mahant Swami Ramdas of Sankat Mochan Temple claims that there is a huge crowd at the Dargah for 3 days of the year around Bakrid.
He said that during this time, there is a crowd of people not only from the Muslim community of nearby villages and districts but also from citizens from as far as Nepal.
The real name of the Dargah is ‘Hazrat Makhdoom Syed Qayamuddin Bhika Makki Radi Allahutala Anhu’. But since last few days it has started being called by the name Bilhari Baba. Mahant Ramdas claims that a board with the name Bilhari Baba was also installed on the road here.
Hundreds of people gathered when protests erupted
Mahant Ramdas told us that there is relief for the last one year due to the administration of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but in 2017 there was a dispute in front of the temple.
It is alleged that this fight started when the gate of Maa Durga was installed near the temple for Navratri celebrations.
People of Muslim community protested at this gate. Mahant said that during Tajiya procession etc., people of Muslim community used to put up a big gate near the temple but no one used to stop them.
It is alleged that when he raised questions on the different rules for Muharram and Navratri, a policeman present at the spot climbed up and scratched the gate of Maa Durga.
In 2017, FIR was lodged against Mahant himself.
Mahant Ramdas further said that many Hindu devotees got angry due to the tearing of the gate of Maa Durga.
On the other side, there was a crowd of people from the Muslim community who were getting the protection of a local SP leader.
It is alleged that during this time, policemen wearing leather boots even entered the sanctum sanctorum and kitchen of the temple and had a scuffle with Mahant Ramdas.
Due to the tense atmosphere outside, there was a clash between the two parties. The then SHO considered Mahant Ramdas guilty of this clash and lodged an FIR against him.
Even today Mahant Ramdas is fighting this case from his own pocket. Describing his plight further, Mahant Ramdas said that back then he also tried to register an FIR on the Muslim side but was refused.
Temple road covered with Islamist flags
When we asked more about the 2017 incident, Mahant Ramdas told that before that, a crowd of Muslims used to gather in front of the temple during various Islamic festivals.
The area around the temple was covered with green religious flags. A procession was taken out and stopped at the temple gate for hours. Here pudiya-gutka was eaten and spit out.
It is alleged that during this period, provocative statements like ‘India does not belong to anyone’s father’ were made.
According to Ramdas, at that time the police used to be a silent witness to all these activities and used to advise the Hindus to ‘have a little patience’.
‘Government should withdraw the case registered against me’
Mahant Ramdas termed the case registered against him in 2017 as wrong and one-sided action. He has appealed that the present Yogi government should withdraw the FIR registered against him because that action was taken by the then police station in-charge and outpost in-charge to appease the Muslims.
He also expressed hope of action against the policemen who vandalised the gate of Maa Durga and defiled the temple premises with leather boots.
Ramdas also claims that even though crazy activities have been curbed under the current government, they have not stopped completely.
He said that in the year 2022, two processions of Muslims carrying Tajiya had clashed with each other in front of his temple, due to which there was chaos.
Madrasa along with Dargah
OpIndia team visited Dargah Hazrat Maqdoom which is being prepared to be declared as Belhari Sharif Dargah. There are many houses of Muslim community around the Dargah.
Green Islamic flags were seen fluttering on these houses. The Dargah is in a semi-built big building whose construction work is going on. Green flags have been pasted above and posters written in Urdu have been pasted outside.
In front of this Dargah, a Madrasa was also seen whose name is ‘Faiz-e-Subhani’. This Dargah and Madrasa, owned by Chand Miyan, is run by Hafiz Nurul Hasan.
Seeing the gates of Dargah and Madrasa closed, we started searching for Hafiz Nurul Hasan. We met Nurul Hasan about 100 meters away from the Dargah who was constructing another big building. This new building is less than 1 kilometre away from Raja Dasharatha Samadhi and Sankat Mochan Temple.
Nurul Hasan agreed to talk to us after giving directions to the workers constructing the building. He described himself as originally a resident of Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. According to Nurul, along with taking care of the Dargah, he also imparts education to the local children in the Madrasa.
Claim to command Saryu River
Nurul Hasan claimed that the Dargah of Makhdoom Syed is more than 600 years old. He claimed that Syed Qayamuddin Bhika had come straight from Mecca and settled at that place.
Information was also given about Syed Qayamuddin getting ‘Makki’ in his name due to his visit to Mecca. Nurul Hasan mentioned an incident related to Qayamuddin and Saryu River and claimed it to be completely true.
He claims that the mythical Saryu river had moved to him on its own accord on the orders of Qayamuddin Makki.
We asked Hafiz Nurul to narrate the incident in detail. Then Nurul said, “Saryu is a river. Earlier he (Qayamuddin Makki) used to go there to perform ablution. Then he would go away. Then one day it came to his mind. He said to the river, O river, should I come to you or do you come to me? So you kept coming forward and the river kept coming from behind. You came here and stopped and a river came out from the side.”
अयोध्या में जहाँ हनुमान मंदिर और दशरथ समाधि, वहाँ पर है एक दरगाह भी।
— ऑपइंडिया (@OpIndia_in) January 3, 2024
दरगाह के संचालक ने बताया इसका भी मक्का कनेक्शन। मक्का से तो वैसे अयोध्या में बनने वाली मस्जिद को भी जोड़ दिया इन लोगों ने… अब पढ़िए कैसे सरयू नदी को 'धमकाया' था मक्का वाले कयामुद्दीन ने।
पढ़ें @STVRahul की… pic.twitter.com/RhcRoRsOkb
However, many Hindu texts mention the Saryu River, including Ramayana. Lord Rama himself and his ancestors and descendants used to worship this holy river.
Claim of children being born from the tree planted in the Dargah
While talking to OpIndia, Hafiz went on to enumerate the alleged miracles of Nurul Hasan Dargah. He claimed that there is a tree inside the Dargah whose fruits and leaves can be eaten by women who have problems in giving birth to children and becoming mothers.
Nurul said that the tree that helps in childbirth was planted by Makhdoom Syed Qayamuddin Makki with his own hands 600 years ago. According to him, people come to Nurul Dargah every day but there is more crowd on Friday night. Once a year after Bakrid, a 3-day Urs is held here.
