Saint Sharif’s period is 1819 ~ 1889. It is one and a half to two centuries ago. July 3 is his birthday. If at that time he conceived and achieved the idea of Hindu-Muslim harmony and achieved it, then it should be said that the Hindu-Muslim people of that surrounding area, who have followed it even today after two centuries, have done another miracle. The area is flat land. There are no hills. There is not a single river. There is no rain. Solitude is the basis of life. (In such a situation, we sowed clouds and brought rain in Bangalore) How rich are those poor people in religious harmony! That too by self-motivation. In the present, there is no religious leadership, no force. One thing must be said. The Bommai family are the politicians there. Recently, another stalwart of Information Technology, Deshpande, has donated funds and expanded the Aashram. Mr. Deshpande is the brother in law of Infosys Narayana Murthy. The water they are pouring on the plant of that friendship may also be responsible to some extent.
Shishuvinahala Sharif was born a Muslim. On the orders of the family guru Hulaguru Qadri, as per the wishes of his father Hakeem, he received knowledge and teachings from the Gurukul of Kalasada Govinda Bhatta and finally accepted Veerashaiva religion and surrendered to Shishunaladhish. From that time till today, both Hindus and Muslims walk with unity to the Dargah Sharif of Hulaguru and the grave of Sharif in Shishunal. My brother-in-law and his wife, who work at the University of British Columbia in Canada, had come to do a project on Shishuvinala Sharif, the founder of Hindu-Muslim harmony. We went to Dargah Sharif in Hulagur and met the current Qadri Syed Yunus Qadri. We went to the house of Shri Govinda Bhatt in Kalasa (now a temple and a monastery) and met his current generation, Shri Murali Joshi. In Shishunal, we visited Sharif’s burial place, a prayer hall, a school named after him, which has been open for 51 years, and we went to Sharif’s house and met his current generation descendants. We went to the school where he used to teach.
Sharif is said to have created about 3500 Kannada verses and about 30 Persian verses. He did not write any of them. At some point in time, at some place, he would compose and sing a song according to the occasion. It would remain on the tongues, from word of mouth, from the local singers of that time to the local singers of today. We were told that he would go to the potter Basappa’s house, sing some songs and potter Basappa’s daughter used to record them in writing. We searched for the potter’s house but could not find it. When asked, the villagers showed two houses. Neither of them had no clues.
When you on a trail of this kind, you have some strong hopes of stumbling on to a link. Could we find a person who was the contemporary of and stayed with the saint Sharif and dealt with him? No way. To find such a person, he must be about 150 years old. At least can you be fortunate to see a photograph of him? There is a group photo of him meeting with nine Swamis of different religions in the prayer hall. All the remaining paintings and statues are just artists’ impressions. “How was Sharif Ajja?” A question of hope wandered in my mind. Can we see a video clip of him singing a word? Is there an end to a person’s desire? However we wre fortunate enough to get the opportunity to see two sacred objects that he himself touched and used with his own hands. We saw the Ektaar Tamburi, the single wire musical instrument, that he played by hand and his Guru Govinda Bhatt’s padukas (sacred footwear ) that he kept with him. These were preserved in his ancestor home. The third is even more amazing and sacred. Sant Sharif did not write any of his philosophical words with his own hands. Such being the case, we had the fortune to see an original document handwritten by him in the place of worship of the house of one of his disciples. Chamarasa’s Prabhulinga Leele, the holy epic, was the very favorite work of Sant Sharif. It was a manuscript he wrote along with his Mimamsa(Review). A white sheet without lines! The discipline of a holy sowing line. Beautiful Kannada letters. Written with a pen-nib dipped in ink. It was CALLIGRAPHY in Kannada language. The way it was scripted well from the first page to the last page, was exquisite. Just touching the manuscript that the saint had touched and holding it to my forehead gave me a feeling of great significance and blessing. As requested by the family, his name and address have been kept a secret.
We experienced a coolness of holiness in all the places we visited. Wherever we got the opportunity, we enjoyed hearing the philosophical words of Sant Sharif from the local people whom we met. The words of an old man should be remembered here. “You don’t need to ask anyone here “ Can you sing Sharif’s song?”. Everyone here sings.” The group of people assembled in a temple on our request, did sing both with and without accompaniment of musical instruments. One lead singer said, “Oh, I was not singing it; Sharif Azza sang it through me.” All the songs have become lessons embedded in their hearts. If you ask any person what it means, he will explainit to you.
What a holy land! If you draw a circle with a radius of 30-35 km around the birthplace of Saint Sharif (1819~1889), you will see what other holy places are available.
The birthplace of Saint Kanakadasa (1509~1609), is Kaginele, nearby. The birthplace of the sixteenth century poet Sarvajna Kavi is nearby Abaluru (near Hirekerur). The nineteenth century historical novelist Galaganath and the two classic gurus of ancient Kannada poets Pampa and Ranna are located in Bankapur nearby. Dr. V. K. Gokak (1909~1992) the Literary Jaint and the Educationist was from Savanur nearby. Hanagal nearby produced the famous singers Ganayogi Panchakshari Gavai (1892~1944), the twentieth century blind guru Puttaraja Gavai, and the Hindustani classical musician Gangubai Hanagal (1913~2009). Can you imagine a better holy shrine? Pranaams.
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