 |
PLACES
|
 |
GIRAD
Girad, with a population of 2,144 inhabitants in 1961 is a large village in Hinganghat tahsil on the Nagpur border, 37 miles distant from Wardha and about 20 miles from Hinganghat. Many interesting tales are told about Girad and the folk-lore demon Gidhoba after whom the village is supposed to be named. It is believed to be the scene of an interesting episode between Gidhoba and a Muhammedan saint by name Shaikh, Farid. whose tomb is atop a hill in the vicinity of the village. The story goes that Khvaja Farid was born in Hindustan and after wandering for over three decades from place to place came and settled at Girad on the Girad hill about the year A. D. 1244. It so happened that the hill was also the abode of the demon Gidhoba, who used to make his daily meal of a human being. When Farid having arrived began to perform his devotions, the demon approached him and expressed a desire to eat him. The saint threw him a crumb of bread and asked him to satisfy himself. Gidhoba scoffed at it and said that it would do him no good. On being pressed by the saint, he began to eat it until he could not eat more and yet some bread was left over. The meal being over, the demon wished to drink at which Farid struck his stick, some say his thumb, in the nearby
rock and a spring gushed out and Gidhoba drank to his heart's content. A large tank is being pointed out on the hill as a reminder of the miraculous powers of the saint. It contains some tortoises which are considered sacred by the local populace. But Gidhoba was in no way abashed and challenged the saint for a wrestling bout. Shaikh Farid refused at first, but being pressed he picked up the challenge, and in the event Gidhoba was thrown down beneath the earth and buried in the hill, and a pillar-shaped stone, sticking out of the hill, is pointed out to be one of the demon's legs. The hill is known as Pahad Farid and offerings are made here both to the saint and the demon as it was agreed between them that whenever Shaikh Farid got an offering Gidhoba should get a smaller one. The shrine of the saint is on the top of the hill and is a place of great resort to both the Hindus and the Muslims, an annual urus being held here at the Muhammedan festival of Muharram and another small one during the Hindu feast of Ramnavmi. Mahars especially pay reverence to the shrine, all the Mahars in the tahsil proceeding there annually. The story of the saint and the demon is interesting, as showing how an immigrant religion appropriates to itself the shrines or festivals of another one already existing, which is indeed a sufficiently common phenomenon with Christianity and other religions. There is little reason to doubt that the hill was originally worshipped by the Mahars and other primitive tribes as the abode of a demon, and that the Muhammedan priests presented the locality with the story of the saint, thus converting it into a legitimate place of pilgrimage for the Muhammedans; the reason probably being that they found that their stock insisted on paying reverence to the local deity, and hence thought it best to give them a good and orthodox excuse for doing so. And Hinduism with its usual Catholic feeling and assimilative powers also admitted the Khvaja into its host of saints.
On and around the hill may be found a number of zeolitic concretions shaped like nutmegs and some other fruits like coconuts and betelnuts. To this effect another tale is told which credits the saint with miraculous powers. It is said that two banjaras or roving merchants were passing by one day with carts loaded with fruits and spices. The Shaikh who was at his devotions asked them what the carts contained, upon which mockingly they said ' only stones.' Farid calmly replied ' As you have spoken so shall it be,' and a little further on, the bullocks sank down under the weight of the loads and when the bundles were opened the banjaras to their mortification found only stones. The merchants went back weeping and begged of the saint to pardon them. He advised them to throw the stones on the hill side and fill up the bags with leaves. They acted accordingly and hardly had they proceeded on their way when the bullocks sank again. But this time to their joy they found the bundles full of gold and silver. Struck by the miraculous powers of the saint, the banjaras distributed the treasure among the village people and became his disciples. Some graves seen on the hill-top are believed to be the graves of the merchants. The mineral concretions found on the hill and around are believed to be the petrified cocoa and areca nuts. And the people in vain belief collect these stones, powder them and apply the powder to those parts of the body where they feel pain in the hope that it will cure them. A large well with a stone parapet is seen at the bottom of the hill, and it is said that the saint used to hang himself with head downwards to do penance in this well. People believe the water of this well to have healing and protective powers and whenever pests and diseases attack the crops they sprinkle them with this water. Whereas the Muharram fair lasts for 10 days, the Ramnavmi lasts only for a day, but on both the occasions Hindus and Muhammedans gather in large numbers at the tomb. Cotton cloth and woollen blankets are woven on handlooms, there being some
handloom co-operatives. Girad has a high school, a janapada dispensary, a veterinary sub-centre, a post office and a police station. It suffers from inadequacy of potable water. On the hill are seen remnants of the outlines of buildings which the Nagpur Bhosles had undertaken to build.
|
