Hyd'bad observes Youm-e-Ashura with reverence, religious fervour

Hyderabad: Hundreds of thousands of mourners took out processions across the city on Wednesday with due solemnity to pay homage to the supreme sacrifice rendered by Hazrat Imam Hussain and his companions in Karbala in 680 AD. The procession was taken out amid heightened security measures to observe Youm-e-Ashura, the 10th day of Moharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.

The day is observed when Shia Muslims commemorate the battlefield death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, in Karbala, Iraq, along with his 72 companions. The main procession was taken out with the historical Bibi ka Alam on a caparisoned elephant from the Bibi-ka-Alawa at Dabeerpura in Old City to Chaderghat.

Thousands of mourners participated in the traditional Moharram procession that wound up through the streets of the Old City via Charminar, where the Hyderabad city police commissioner, Kothakota Sreenivasa Reddy, offered ‘Dhatti’ to the Bibi-ka-Alam.

It was all black and blood everywhere as the mood of Shia Muslims' mourning pervaded the lanes in the Old City, where the Bibi-ka-Alam, the traditional mourning procession, was taken from Bibi-ka-Alawa to Masjid-e-Ilahi in Chaderghat on an elephant ‘Rupavathi’ that was brought from Karnataka. It is said that the Bibi-ka-Alawa houses the Alam, a piece of wooden plank on which Fatimah, the mother of Hassan and Hussain and daughter of Prophet Mohammed, was given her final ablution by her husband before burial.

During the procession, amidst the cries of 'Ya Hussain' and the recitation of Marsiyas (elegies) and Nuoha-khwani (poems expressing sorrow), the barefoot participants self-flagellated with chains and swords in remembrance of the Martyrs. Water and Sharbat (juice) made up of milk and jaggery were distributed from the water sabeels set up at various places in the Old City, which has the second highest population of Shia Muslims in the country after Lucknow.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that Moharram symbolises sacrifice and tolerance. In a message to mark the Youm-e-Ashura, the Chief Minister recalled that both Hindus and Muslims have traditionally participated in the 'Peerla Panduga' mourning procession together in Telangana villages. Revanth Reddy highlighted that Moharram serves as a bridge for unity and harmony among people, regardless of their caste and religion.

During this yearly Azadari (mourning) procession, hundreds of barefooted and bare-chested mourners from more than 40 ‘Anjumans’, including a few from various parts of the country, formed part of the procession. Starting from Bibi-ka-Alawa in Dabeerpura, the procession passed through Yakutpura and stopped at the Ashoorkhana ‘Khadam-e-Rasool’ where the footprints of Prophet Mohammed are displayed.

The next stop was at Peeli Gate in Purani Haveli, where one of the members of Nizam’s family offered ‘Dhatti’ to the Alam, and it concluded at Chaderghat. For the first time, Nizam IX, Nawab Mir Mohammed Azmet Ali Khan, offered traditional ‘Dhatti’ and ‘Nazrana’ to Bibi-ka-Alam.

Historically, the ‘Alam’ was brought from Karbala to Hyderabad during the reign of the Qutub Shahi dynasty. The Alam was preserved in the calligraphy with Arabic lettering of Allah, Prophet Mohammed, and Hazrath Imam Ali. It was later covered with an alloy of metal and gold. Six green pouches in the shape of earrings containing precious gems are suspended on either side of the alam, which is kept under the strict vigilance of police security.

The police, along with the RAF, were deployed along Alam's route to keep vigil over the precious gems mounted on the elephant along with Alam. A medical emergency team was also deployed during the mourning procession.