Kanniyakumari
Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself
Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself · Photo: arunpnair_787 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Palace Country · Heritage

Peer Mohamed Oliyullah Dargah

பீர் முகமது ஒலியுல்லா தர்கா

The shrine of a poet-philosopher at Thuckalay

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You arrive

You come into Thuckalay, the busy administrative town of Kalkulam taluk, and ask the way to the dargah of Peer Mohamed Oliyullah. The town's commercial noise is around you, buses and shopfronts near the stand. Then you reach the shrine of a man remembered here as both philosopher and poet, and the pace drops. You cover your head if others do, lower your voice, and go in with people who have come to pay their respects.

Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself
Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself · Photo: arunpnair_787 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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At the shrine

You approach the resting place of the man known as Mohamed Appa, born in Tenkasi and remembered in Thuckalay as a philosopher-poet. Follow what those around you are doing. People of more than one faith come here, and the district's own account says that visitors from both Kerala and Tamil Nadu gather at his anniversary. Stand quietly for a while before you turn back.

Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself
Countryside around Thuckalay, not the dargah itself · Photo: arunpnair_787 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Connecting him to the fort

You step outside and think about the distance to Padmanabhapuram, just up the road. The district account says this poet had ties with the Chera kings and laid the foundation stone of the granite fort there. Whatever the details, it places a Muslim scholar at the founding of a Hindu king's stronghold, and it explains why this shrine is part of the same day's visit.

Being here

You see

A place of prayer set within an ordinary working town.

You hear

Lowered voices, with the town's traffic outside.

You smell

Incense and flowers, if offerings have been made.

You feel

The stillness of the shrine after the street.

The story

The dargah is named for Peer Mohamed, also called Mohamed Appa, a philosopher-poet born in Tenkasi. According to the district administration he had ties with the Chera kings and laid the foundation stone of the granite fort at Padmanabhapuram. His anniversary is celebrated on a full moon day in the month the district page writes as 'Rajap', and it draws people of all faiths from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The shrine is a reminder that the old Travancore heartland was home to several religious communities living side by side.

Sources: Kanniyakumari district: Temples, Churches, Masjids · Wikipedia: Thuckalay

Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple
Photo: Suresh Babunair · CC BY 3.0
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Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple