The fallen branch of a banyan tree, which is believed to have an Arabic inscription, is attracting large crowds in a village in Nadia district. The devotees, who are flocking to the madrasa in Nagadi village where it has been kept for public view, believe that it is a sacred branch with miraculous powers. Nagadi is a small village under Bikrampur panchayat in the Nakashipara police station area with a mixed population. There is a mazar (shrine) of a sufi saint under the tree.
Last week, a villager Mantu Hazra was passing by when he saw some fallen branches under the banyan tree. He picked them up and brought them home to use as firewood. He noticed an unusual pattern on a small branch. To his eyes, it appeared as if something was written in Arabic. Hazra took the branch to the local Darul Uloom madrasa.
A teacher Mohammad Mufti Ruhul Amin Qadri confirmed that it was indeed an Arabic inscription. After a closer scrutiny, he even succeeded in making out what was written. “I can read three words — Islam Islah Mohammed,” he claimed.
As soon as the word spread about the branch with Arabic inscription, people started flocking to the madrasa to have a glimpse of it.
“Since the branch belongs to a tree which is located in close proximity of a mazar, people started believing that it is a sacred object with miraculous powers. In fact, people’s devotion to the shrine has increased,” another madrasa teacher Hafiz Mohammad Farooq Munshi said.
There is, however, also a group of sceptics who is not ready to attach any religious significance to the branch.
“I do not want to hurt the feelings of anyone. But the pattern on the branch, which is being viewed as some Arabic words, is nothing but a natural botanical phenomenon. The belief that it is a holy branch with some divine manifestation is irrational,” a panchayat functionary Jalaluddin Sheikh said.