In India, almost every village and city has a sacred centre, whether it is a temple or a tank, or a Samadhi or a Dargah (tomb). @uran suggests Allah rewared such and such for their good deeds by bestowing upon them the rank of Prophethood. Sufis believe that a Prophet, before he is raised to this rank" is a Wali (Saint). The Prophet of Islam introduced the custom of pilgrimage to Makkah, to earn religious merit. However, Sufism has directly of tomb pilgrimage and considers the tombs of Sufis as sacred centres. Perhaps this consideration largely waives with the Muslim devotees, while for the non-Muslims, it is the miraculous powers of the saint.
The cultural features of a sacred complex, coneptualized by Vidyarthi based on Hindu Gaya, were applied to the dargah of Hazarat Syedina Syed Abdul Quadir Sahul Hameed Nagore Andavar of Nagore, located in Nagapatnam, Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu, South India in an anthroplolgical perspective, as a dimension of Islamic civilization in general and Sufi tradition in particular. Tjhis attempt in author’s opinion, is the first of its kind by an Anthropologist and useful to achieve mutual inter-action between different religious faiths in a pluralistic country like India. The empirical data revealed that any dargah has the potential of its growth and spread only if its intrinsic value stems out for human good, whatever it’s cultural and religious contents may be. If and when, they have to interact with one or more civilizational contents, local or Little Traditions, the sacred insitutions blend in their secular and sacred activities.
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