Preparations begin for Nagore Dargah’s 470th Kanduri festival

NAGORE Preparations are under way for the 470th annual 14-day Kanduri festival at Nagore Dargah, marking the commemoration of the death anniversary of saint Shahul Hamid, which is scheduled to be held from November 10-23 this year. In the early hours of Saturday, the Payimaram (flagpost) was ceremonially hosted on all five minarets of the dargah, following traditional customs. A multi-faith congregation of devotees will flock to the shrine this week from across the country and abroad. “Normally we get up to 10,000 visitors every day.

For the kanduri, we are expecting 7 to 9 lakh people this year, and the dargah is getting ready to host the worshippers,” S. Syed Mohamed Khalifa Sahib, Qadiri Hashmi, president, Nagore Dargah Advisory Board, told The Hindu. The festival’s rituals are tied in with phases of the moon in the Islamic month of Jamad-ul-Akhir. Recently, Minister for Minorities Welfare and Wakf Board of Tamil Nadu A.

M. Shahjahan held a consultative meeting to review arrangements being made for the festival with Nagapattinam Collector K. J.