Many of these local shrines owe their reputation to notorious cures, which have been performed by the intervention of the local saint. At Chhattarpur is the shrine of Rûkhar Bâba, an ascetic of the Gusâîn class, who has the power of removing fever and ague, and hence among the many tombs of his brethren his is kept clean and white-washed, while the others are neglected.[82] A shrine in Berâr is noted for its power in cases of snake-bite and scrofula. A large two-storied gate of its enclosure owes its erection to the gratitude of a wealthy tailor, who was cured of sore disease of the loins.[83] Recently at the shrine of the saint of Fatehpur in the Sahâranpur District, the Faqîr in charge informed me that when the people bring sick children to him, he pulls off a leaf from the tree overhanging the tomb, blows upon it, and says to the disease, “Begone, you rascal!” and the child is cured. At the tomb of Pîr Jahâniyân in the Muzaffargarh District, people suffering from leprosy and boils get the incumbent to prepare baths of heated sand, in which the diseased part, or the whole body is placed. The efficacy of the remedy is ascribed to the thaumaturgic power of the saint.[84] The tomb of Makhdûm Sâhib in the Faizâbâd District is famous for the exorcism of evil spirits, a reputation which it shares with the shrine of Bairâm at Bidauli in Muzaffarnagar, and that of Bîbî Kamâlo at Kâko, half-way between Gaya and Patna.[85]
So, in Bengal, the chief disease shrines are those of Tarakeswara in Hughli, sacred to Mahâdeva, of Vaidyanâtha in the Santâl Parganas, and Gondalpâra in Hughli, famous in cases of hydrophobia. “The device followed at the last place is for the bitten person, after fasting, to defray the expense of a special service, and to receive a piece of broad cloth impregnated with the snuff of a lamp-wick, and secreted in the heart of a plantain. As long as this charm is preserved and the patient abstains from eating of this variety of plantain, the effects of the bite are warded off. Another plan is for the patient to take a secret medicine, probably cantharides, pounded with twenty-one pepper-corns, before the twenty-first day. This causes the patient to throw off some mucus, known as ‘the dog’s whelp,’ and this leads to cure.”[86]
In the Partâbgarh District are to be seen here and there strange-looking brick-built erections called Kûkar Deora or “dogs’ house,” in the shape of cupolas or pyramids. Some of them are supposed to be the treasure houses of the ancient races. If a man walks round one of these seven times and then looks in at the door, he will be cured from the bite of a mad dog.[87]
Sayyid Yûsuf.
Dr. Buchanan gives a case at Patna of a certain Sayyid Yûsuf, who manifested himself to a poor blind weaver and told him that he would recover his sight next day. At the same time the saint ordered his patient to search for his tomb and proclaim its virtues. The weaver, on recovering his sight, did not fail to obey the orders of his benefactor, and he and his descendants have since then lived on the contributions of the faithful, though the tomb is a mere heap of clay and has no endowment.[88]
The tomb at Faizâbâd known as Fazl-ul-haqq, or “Grace of God,” brings good luck if sweetmeats are offered every Thursday, and another, called ’Ilm Bakhsh, or “Wisdom-giver,” causes boys who are taken there to learn their lessons quickly.[89] The same result may be secured by a charm which is found in the Samavidhana Brâhmana—“After a fast of three nights, take a plant of Soma, recite a certain formula and eat of the plant a thousand times, you will be able to repeat anything after hearing it once.”
Wonder-working Tombs.
There are other tombs which present special peculiarities. Thus, not long since crowds of people assembled at Khetwadi, in Bombay, to see a shrine erected by some sweepers to Zâhir Pîr, which at intervals seemed to oscillate from its foundations. At Anjar in Sindh are the tombs of a noted outlaw named Jaisar Pîr and his wife Turî Khatrânî, who were originally buried apart, but their tombs are gradually approaching, and it is believed that at their meeting the world will be destroyed. So there is a wall at Gurdâspur which a Faqîr saw being built, and asked the master-mason if he considered it to be firm. The mason said that he believed it to be substantial, whereupon the holy man touched it and made it shake, and it has gone on shaking ever since. At Faizâbâd is the tomb of a saint, and some time ago the metal top of one of the pinnacles took to shaking, and the weaver population were so impressed that they levied a tax on the community for its repair. At Jhanjhâna is the tomb of Sayyid Mahmûd, who was buried next to one of his disciples. But the latter is too modest to place himself on an equality with his master, so his tomb, however much it is repaired, always sinks to a lower level than that of his preceptor. At Bârabanki is the tomb of the saint Shaikh Ahmad Abdul-haq, who thought he could acquire some useful information by keeping company with the dead. So he got himself buried alive, and after six months his grave opened of its own accord and he was taken out half dead.