Nagore Dargah seeks sandalwood from state govt for Kanduri fest

Nagore Dargah’s hereditary Athinam has submitted that the Kanduri festival–which attracts thousands of tourists from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the Middle East–also known as Urs festival, is celebrated for 14 days to mark the death anniversary of the saint Hazarath Nagore Shahul Hamid on whose tomb the Dargah is built. 

Noting that the essence of the festival dwells on applying sandal paste over the sanctum of the shrine, the petitioner claimed that since 2012, the State government has been regularly providing 40 kgs of sandalwood for the festival and that for the last few years, the wood was provided only after the Dargah approached the concerned authorities with a requisition. Claiming that such a procedure is cumbersome and time consuming, the petitioner submitted that since the request to authorities to pass an order for regular supply of wood every year to the festival has been rejected, it left them no choice but to approach the High Court for relief. The plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on Wednesday.