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Prayers, Food, & Games: Lakhs Expected To Visit Mahim Fair That Starts Tomorrow

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The 10-day annual fair at the dargah of  Makhdum Ali Mahimi at Mahim will start on December 27 as it has always, with a procession of personnel from the Mahim police station walking to the shrine bearing gifts of a chadar, a shawl to cover the tomb, and scented offerings. The fair starts six days after the Urs, or the death anniversary of the saint which was observed last week. 

The shrine of Makhdum Ali Mahimi

The shrine is revered as the tomb of a religious scholar believed to have lived between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Stories of miraculous cures bring thousands of pilgrims to the dargah which is the city’s second-most-visited Sufi shrine after the Haji Ali dargah.The shrine observed the saint’s 610th death anniversary or Urs on December 21 which corresponded to the eighth day of the Islamic month Jamadul Akhir which began on December 14. The Urs began last week with the unfurling of the national flag and singing of the song ‘Sare jahan se acha’. This is followed by the raising of the flags of the police and the dargah.  

Event is a ‘gazetted mela’

Sohail Khandwani, trustee of the Pir Makhdum Saheb Charitable Trust, said that the fair that takes place around the shrine during the Urs is a ‘gazetted mela’ as the event is listed in government gazettes from the pre-independence days. “The fair started in 1910, so this is the 113th year,” said Khandwani.  

For a religious place, the shrine has an unusual feature – a copy of the preamble to the Constitution of India mounted on the wall near the Ashtana or the shrine’s inner sanctum which houses the saint’s tomb.

Mansoor Khan of the Sufi Islamic Board said that the idea behind placing the preamble’s copy is to show that no place in the country is untouched by the theme of nationalism. “As things are today, shrines are shown in a negative light. We have to show that there is no religious discrimination at this place. Dargahs are inclusive and embracers of national culture,” explained Khan.  

More about ‘Mahim ka Mela’

Apart from the spiritual aspects of the festival, the ‘Mahim ka Mela’, organised like a carnival, is an attraction for visitors. As the number of visitors to the fair has grown, the event, which was once confined to the narrow Dargah Street, has shifted to Balamia Street and extends to Mahim Beach. More than five lakh people are expected to visit the fair.

Ashraf Ahmed Shaikh, a lawyer and resident of Mahim said, “It is like a traditional fair, with amusement rides. Shopkeepers come from all over India to sell different kinds of food. The main dish at the fair is ‘Halwa Paratha’. As kids we were excited about the fair,” said Shaikh.

There is no authentic record of how the Mumbai police became involved with the shrine’s annual festival, but it is said that personnel prayed to the saint when there was a particularly difficult crime case to be investigated. Other than the police, officials from the traffic police, the Brihahmumbai Municipal Corporation, and the Mumbai Port Trust are involved in managing traffic and stalls at the fair.  

 1st dargah trust to get an ISO certification in 2007

The shrine is the first dargah trust to get an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification in 2007 for management practices. The certificate has been renewed till July 2025. The certificate acknowledges the trust’s calibre in organising the Urs, the religious research it facilitates, and the library services charity activities of the trust.

The shrine houses a 600-year-old Quran believed to have been written by the saint. An annual exposition called the ‘Quran Sharief Ziyarat’ is held on a day in the month of Ramzan when the book is displayed to the faithful for a few hours. During the rest of the year, the book is kept in a silver box in the Ashtana. The shrine’s managers said that the book was stitched together a century ago with pages written by the saint. 

Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Maratha Quota Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Health Deteriorates On 5th Day Of Hunger Strike

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Maharashtra: Maratha Quota Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil's Health Deteriorates On 5th Day Of Hunger Strike

Jalna: The health of Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil started deteriorating on the fifth day of his sixth hunger strike here on Saturday, his party leaders said.

Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Health Deteriorates

Since Friday noon he was feeling exhausted and sickly, and his supporters were concerned to see him lying restlessly on his stomach or not communicating with them. Last evening, at one point, Jarange-Patil got up to address his people, but his legs didn’t seem to support his weight and he suddenly fell into a heap, appearing to be motionless. However, his aides who were around managed to catch him in time and prevented him from falling down and hurting himself. They helped him sit upright again and after that he again took some rest at the hunger strike venue.

From Friday night, many of his alarmed followers, some with tears in their eyes and many women seen weeping, made frantic appeals to Jarange-Patil to break his hunger strike, or at least get some medication to revive him, but he remained adamant. Later, state Minister Shambhuraj Desai called up Jarange-Patil with the same plea, plus many of his close aides repeatedly goaded him to get treated for his frail health, and he reluctantly agreed to do so in the wee hours of Saturday.

Medical Team Immediately Administers Him With Saline & Other Medicines

A medical team present at the spot immediately administered him with saline and certain medicines, which he has started taking, while going a little easy on the agitation since Saturday morning. As the hunger-strike gets longer and the date of Maharashtra Assembly elections looms closer, Maratha groups have issued calls for a shutdown (bandh) in Beed and Osmanabad districts to express solidarity with Jarange-Pail.

The Maratha leader started his long agitation for quotas for the community in August 2023, and the latest decisive phase – which he termed as his ‘last’ hunger strike and a ‘final opportunity’ to the Mahayuti government before the Assembly polls – kicked off from September 17 at his village Antarvali-Sarati in Jalna district.

His demands are the implementation of the ‘sage-soyare (family bloodline)’ notification, giving Marathas reservation from the OBC quotas, a government notification stating that Marathas and Kunbis are the same, plus other related demands including withdrawal of police cases filed against the Marathas for taking part in the quotas campaign.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Dharavi Tensed, Crowd Stops BMC Team From Mosque Demolition, Police On Spot

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Mumbai: A tense situation was seen in Mumbai’s Dharavi area on Saturday when a civic staff reached to demolish illegal parts of a mosque. The mob surrounded the the Brihanmumnai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s demolition vehicle preventing them to take action.

The Muslim community strongly opposed the demolition of Mehboob-e-Subani Mosque in Dharavi. As per reports, the crowd attacked the BMC vehicle that came for action and in all two BMC vehicles were vandalized.

The locals had gathered on the road and blocked it. Residents alleged that the part of mosque which the BMC wants to demolish is not new but the construction is underway from last few months. They raised concerns as why the civic body wants to demolish now after turning a blind eye for months, a resident said speaking with the media.

The situation is now under control, with members of various communities, including local Hindus and Muslims, appealing for peace at the scene.

The police administration’s swift action has successfully restored complete order. However, large crowd is seen outside Dharavi police station.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Weather Today: A Humid Start Of Day; IMD Predicts Light Drizzle

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Mumbai: Today, on September 21, 2024, Mumbai is experiencing the temperature of 27.99 °C. The I forecast predicts temperatures ranging from 26.99 °C to 29.06 °C. Relative humidity is at 74%, while wind speed ranges from 72 km/h to 2.57 km/h. The sun will rise at 06:27 AM and is expected to set at 06:36 PM.

The forecast for today predicts that the sky will be overcast. Please organise your day based on the temperature and expected weather forecast. Have fun in the sun and remember to wear sunscreen and sunglasses while you bask in the nice weather.

Today’s air quality index in Mumbai is 275.0, categorising it as unhealthy. Kids and individuals with respiratory conditions like asthma should remain inside, while everyone else should restrict their time outdoors. Having knowledge of the AQI allows individuals to make informed choices about their health when scheduling daily tasks.

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