Urs at the Ujra Mosque, Kavaratti

religious

Annually on the saint's death anniversary by the Islamic lunar calendar. No published date could be found from any official source — ask on the island. One day

When it happens

Annually on the saint's death anniversary by the Islamic lunar calendar. No published date could be found from any official source — ask on the island.

Annual

Significance

A working shrine's annual commemoration rather than a staged festival — small in scale, internal, and almost absent from tourism material.

Why it's celebrated

It commemorates Sheikh Mohammed Qasim, the Sufi who built the mosque in the seventeenth century and whose grave lies inside it.

How it's celebrated

Devotional recitation and pilgrimage to the grave, with devotees travelling in from other islands. The mosque's continuing ritual life is the Rathib, a Sufi litany performed there.

Key rituals

Recitation at the grave; the Rathib litany performed at the mosque.

Beliefs & spiritual meaning

The saint's intercession is sought at the grave he was buried in.

History & origins

Lakshadweep's Islam is credited to missionary saints who arrived by sea, and the island mosques built around their graves remain the centres of devotional life.

Frequently asked

Where is the Ujra Mosque?+

On Kavaratti, the capital island — not on Andrott, where a great deal of travel writing places it. It was built in the seventeenth century by the Sufi Sheikh Mohammed Qasim, whose grave lies inside it.

When is the Urs held?+

On the saint's death anniversary in the Islamic lunar calendar, but no published date could be found from any official source. It is a small internal commemoration rather than a promoted event, so ask on the island. The mosque's regular Rathib litany, by contrast, has a fixed rule — every Monday and Friday night after the last prayer.

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