Muslims and Hindus together celebrate Hajarat Baba Kammar Shah Festival

The historical Hajarat Baba Kammar Shah festival, celebrated by both Muslims and Hindus together, has commenced at Kamdi of Duduwa Rural Municipality-5 in Banke district.

Thousands of devotees from India also visit the traditional fair cum festival. “Hajarat Baba Kammar Shah Festival has historical importance as the general public of every faith participate in it,” said Jhanka Bahadur Thapa, the chairperson of Duduwa Rural Municipality-5.

According to him, people of all faiths visit the Baba’s Majar (shrine) and pay their obeisance during the four-day fair. It is believed that one’s wishes are fulfilled when one worships at the shrine.

A local community leader, Rajendra Bishwokarma, said devotees from Banke and Bardiya of Nepal as well as from Babagunj, Nanpara, Shreebasti of India also come to fill the fair here. He said the Hajarat Baba Kammar Shah festival is also significant as it promotes social harmony and mutual unity among different faiths.

Located at Kamdi of Duduwa Rural Municipality-5 in Banke district, the shrine dedicated to Hajarat Kammar Shah Baba, a Sufi saint, epitomizes faith and goodwill for both Muslims and Hindus. There are Hindu and Muslim settlements in Duduwa Rural Municipality-5.

Shakil Ahamad Khan, a local Muslim community elder, said that Kammar Shah Baba built his hermitage at the place hundreds of years back and over time he became familiar with the people of the Yadav community who used to come there with their herds of cattle for grazing.

The legend has it that people from the Yadav community used to visit the Hajarat Kammar Shah Baba for advice and seeking cure for diseases.

Khan said people from the Muslim, Yadav and other communities have been offering sheets of cloth, making vows and performing worship at the shrine each year.

Former minister Mohammad Ishtiyak Rai, Lumbini Province Minister for Agriculture, Bhandari Lal Yadav, among others, speaking in the inaugural program of the festival, elucidated on its importance.

Festival organizing committee President Sagir Khan said that a cultural program has also been organized this year as part of the fair. According to him, the local Navadurga Youth Club has organized a rural municipality-wide Nepali folk cultural dance competition.