The highway peer with time at his feet

Vishal Joshi in Kalyana (Kurukshetra)

Last week, 48-year-old Malkiat Singh made it a point to pay obeisance to a dargah of Nau Gaja Sufi Peer before reaching his home in Jalandhar. Malkiat has come from Kuwait and is revisiting Punjab after three-and-a-half years, where he drives a commercial lorry.

“Before moving to Kuwait, I was driving a taxi in Jalandhar. It is a holy ritual to make a stopover at the dargah and invoke the blessings of Nau Gaja Peer for a safe journey,” he says while offering a wall clock at the shrine.

His unique offering has become a routine with every devotee. All offer wall clocks, praying for a safe journey on the National Highway-1, one of the busiest roads in the country. No wonder, the shrine of Syed Mohammad Ebrahim is popularly known as “Ghari Wala Baba”.

The “highway Peer” shrine with the nine-meter grave of the saint is located in Kalyana village near Shahabad. Visitors say people from all walks of life visit the shrine, hoping to get their wishes fulfilled.

The spot finds a place as a “tourist attraction” on the website of Kurukshetra district. The Haryana Wakf Board manages the shrine that has a mosque and a temple of Lord Shiva in its compound.

A businessman from Faridabad, Mitin Hakla, says he has been frequently visiting the Sufi shrine with his family. “I have faith in the divine power of the Sufi saint. My family is a staunch believer in Sufi saint Baba Farid and visiting peers is a family tradition. We pay obeisance to Sufi dargahs for universal peace and a happy family life. It is a common practice that people also pay obeisance to the Shiva temple after taking blessings at the dargah,” he said.

Ali Sher, manager, Haryana Wakf Board, says devotees come with chaddar, mustard oil for burning a lamp and incense sticks at the dargah, but offering clocks and watches has become a popular ritual.

Not much is known about the Peer, but it is commonly believed that the saint was a contemporary of the first Sikh master, Guru Nanak, he says. It is believed that the Peer belonged to Iraq and settled in Kalyana village.

“Nobody knows how and when the practice of offering clocks began. But a story does the rounds: Decades ago, a truck driver had offered a clock, praying for timely arrival and safe journey when travelling on the highways was a challenge. Gradually, offering clocks became a tradition,” Ali Sher says. 

Scores of Punjabis stop here to get blessings while going to Delhi for a visa, he adds.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Health Minister Thakur Kaul Singh are among the key devotees of the Peer. Punjabi singers Gurdas Mann and Daler Mehndi, too, occasionally visit the mazar.

The Wakf official says about 300 persons visit the shrine in a day. The number swells to more than 1,000 on Thursday and Sunday.

“On an average, 250 litres of mustard oil are offered at the shrine in a week. It is distributed free among underprivileged families. The clocks and chaddars are gifted to poor families on the marriage of their daughters,” he adds.

After all, the “Ghari Wala Baba” takes care of everyone — people believe so.