Nagore: The 459th annual ‘Kandoori’ festival of the famous dargah of saint Hazrat Syed Shahul Hameed here commenced with the holy ceremonial flag hoisting on Thursday night.
The inaugural was witnessed by thousands of devotees and pilgrims, according to Nagore Dargah Board Advisory Committee members led by its president Syed Mohamad Kalifa Sahib.
He said that earlier decorated chariots and vehicles carrying the holy flags in the form of ‘Chettipallakku’, ‘ship’, ‘conch’, and ‘minaret’ were taken out in a procession through the thoroughfares in Nagore town. With the illuminated dargah and other major buildings presenting a visual delight, the devotees marched along in the procession.
The managing trustee of the dargah Sheik Hassan Sahib told DC that the most auspicious day of the 14-day festival, the ‘Santhana Koodu’ procession in which the illuminated chariots carry the sandalwood paste falls on March 19. In the early hours of the next day, special prayers would be offered and the sandalwood paste would be applied on the tomb of the 16th century saint Syed Shahul Hameed. The festival will conclude with dismounting the holy flag on March 23.
