It is said that Dada Hayat, whose real name was Shaikh Abdul Aziz Makki, was actually a companion of the Prophet Muhammed himself and had come to the Baba Budhan hills, then known as Chandradrona Parbat, in the seventh century to spread Islam. He is regarded as the first of the masters of the Qalandar order of the wandering mendicants known as faqirs.

According to popular legends, when Dada Hayat arrived at Chandradona Parbat accompanied by his faqir disciples, he took up residence in a cave on the mountain, which was used by a Brahmin and a Lingayat Jangam to administer justice. On the night when he arrived, a group of pallekars (landlords) drew up to the cave, dragging along with them a captive bound up in chains whom they intended to kill for having intruded into their territory. However, it is said, as soon as Dada Hayat saw them approaching the cave, the chains tied around the captive miraculously fell off and the pallekars, shocked beyond belief, fled from the scene.

Probably, what might actually have happened was that Dada Hayat succeeded in freeing the captive by some means or the other. Whatever be the case, the captive is said to have been so grateful to Dada Hayat and so deeply impressed by his personality that he embraced Islam and joined his community of faqirs. This story points out to the peaceful spread of Islam in the region and the socially emancipatory role that it actually played.

The pallekars, finding Dada Hayat a threat to their power, regrouped their forces, and, under the leadership of Kancherayya, the pallekar of Kalhatti, they marched on the cave. It is said that the pallekars had, once again, to beat a hasty retreat for the faqirs proved to be too strong a match for them. Kancherayya then pleaded for peace and went to meet Dada Hayat in the cave. It is said that as soon as he looked upon Dada Hayat he believed he saw Dattatreya, the last incarnation of Vishnu, in his form. He fell at his form and begged him for his pardon, and promised that henceforth he would not trouble the faqirs. Dada Hayat held him in a tight embrace and prayed for him. After this Kancherayya and his deputy, Biru Dev, became faithful disciples of Dada Hayat and would visit him daily to serve him.

The Brahmin and Lingayat Jangam, who used to hold court in the cave in which Dada Hayat had taken up residence, also visited Dada Hayat, and when they saw him, it struck them, too, that Dattatreya had appeared in his form and they, too, became his disciples.

The fame of Dada Hayat now spread far and wide and many people began flocking to his cave. Some of them were so impressed by his character that they embraced Islam, while many others still retained their old religious traditions but incorporated Dada Hayat into their pantheon of deities as a form of Dattatreya. The popularity of the dargah further increased in the seventeenth century, when the then sajjada nashin, Sayyed Jamaluddin Maghribi brought coffee seeds with him from Yemen and tried to popularise coffee cultivation in the area.

The sixth sajjada nashin after him, and a member of his family, Baba Budhan Shah Qadri was actually instrumental in spreading coffee–growing not just in the Chikmagalur area but also in Coorg and the Nilgiris. He dispatched groups of his disciples to these areas to spread Islam and Sufism while, at the same time, popularising the cultivation of coffee. Today, the mainstay of the local economy of Chikmagalur and Coorg is the coffee industry, a living legacy of Baba Budhan.

Since many centuries ago, a three–day urs or festival has been celebrated at the shrine of Dada Hayat every spring, three days after the festival of Holi. This year, too, the urs was held (3–6 March, 1999), amid fears of Hindutva attacks, because of which a heavy police presence was arranged for the first time in the history of the dargah. It is estimated that some 1,500 policemen were at duty at the dargah, while the number of pilgrims was some 10,000, including Muslims, Hindus, Dalits and others. The over–all turn–out was less than previous years, owing to the apprehension that the urs might be disturbed by the Bajrang Dal activists who had vehemently protested against the celebrations.

The urs of Dada Hayat represents a fine blend of Islamic and local influences. People from all communities pray inside the shrine where the seat (takht) of Dada Hayat is located. After they emerge from the cave, they break one or more coconuts, a practice that owes its origins to a Hindu raja of the Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore who offered a large number of coconuts at the dargah in gratitude for a wish that he believed had been granted by Dada Hayat.

Some pilgrims, both Hindus and Muslims, walk down to Palang Talab, a lake some three kilometres away, where they offer coconuts at the seat of the chieftain who, after having repented for opposing Dada Hayat, became his trusted follower. Interestingly, a Dalit priest officiates at the latter shrine.

A striking feature of the urs is the large participation of wandering faqirs belonging to the Qalandariyya and Rifai Sufi orders. The former wear saffron clothes, while the latter dress in green.

Many of their practices are very similar to those of the sadhus. Thus, like the sadhus, they keep long, matted hair, wear heavy jewellery, observe strict austerities and some, though not all, smoke ganja. They stress that barring belief in the prophethood of Muhammad, there is no difference between them and mystics of other faith traditions. Their understanding of Islam is indeed very liberal and tolerant, and they believe, in accordance with the Quranic injunction that God has sent messengers to all peoples, that it is possible that great religious leaders and mystics of other communities may, too, have been divinely–guided. The faqirs play a key role in the ritual festivities at the dargah.

Some of them whip themselves with flails, while others pierce their heads, tongues and throats with spears. This practice is known as zarb or sultani. On the conclusion of the urs, they gather to sing qawwalis to the accompaniment of tambourines and rhythmic clapping. One can discern a strong strain of social protest against poverty, the oppression of the poor and the meaninglessness of ritualistic religion divorced from true spirituality in the songs that they sing.

The urs brings together people of diverse faith traditions, who worship and stay together here in harmony. A Dalit from Pune who has been attending the urs of Dada Hayat for the last twenty years says that what attracts him most here is the feeling of real brotherhood, being able to eat and stay with pilgrims from other castes and religions in the khanqah, the Sufi hospice run by the sajjada nashin. While most of the non–Muslims who attend the urs appear to be from the oppressed ‘low’ castes, there is a significant presence of Marathas, Lingayats, Gowdas, Jains and Reddys.

Interestingly, the present sajjada nashin of the dargah has a close Brahmin disciple, Subramaniam Shastri, a retired bank clerk who has taken sanyas and has been living with him at the khanqah for the last four years. Shastri was, in fact, instructed by his own guru, one Sridharswamy of Wardahally, to take up residence at the khanqah and serve the pilgrims, irrespective of religion, there.

The guru had himself visited the dargah several years ago during the urs and found it the ideal place to send his disciple for further spiritual training. While at the dargah, he was distributing money to get provision for the next day but relied entirely on God to feed them, he, too, had reposed all his faith in God’s help. On hearing this, Shastri says, the guru was so impressed that he directed Shastri to take up residence in the dargah and carry on with his spiritual quest.

Shastri insists that the Hindutva campaign to capture the shrine is motivated simply by political motives and that the leaders behind this project have nothing to do with religion itself. He stresses that the dispute that is now being sought to be brewed over Dada Hayat and Dattatreya is itself meaningless, for, as he puts it, “Although they might be two different people, their soul is one and the same”. He argues that true religion has to do with the heart and not with external names and labels, and at that level all human beings are repositories of God. And this view is powerfully echoed in a qawwali that Dada Hayat’s faqirs sing with passionate pain in their voices:

Allah ko dhoondo Allah ke pyaron main.
Allah samaya hai in ishq ke maro main

(Search for God among God’s loved onesFor God is to be found among those smitten by love).
The controversy over the dargah; a chronology of events:

From Wikipedia...
Baba Budangiri (or Bababudangiri or Baba Budan Giri) is a mountain in the Baba Budan Giri Range of the Western Ghats of India. Located in the Chikkamagaluru District of Karnataka, Baba Budangiri has a height of 1895 meters. Baba Budangiri is known for its shrine which is a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Muslims.

Baba Budangiri is the location of a small Sufi shrine devoted to the saint Baba Budan (also called Guru Dattatreya), who is revered by both Muslims and Hindus. Its origin appears to be a syncretization of reverence for an 11th century Sufi, Dada Hayath (Abdul Azeez Macci); for the 17th century Sufi Baba Budan, said to have brought coffee to India; and for Dattatreya, an incarnation of Shiva. It has been controversial due to political and religious tension over its status as a syncretic shrine.

Baba Budan was a 17th century Sufi, revered by both Muslims and Hindus, whose shrine is at Baba Budangiri, India. According to legend, he introduced coffee to India by bringing beans from the port of Mocha, Yemen.

Bababudangiri Guru Dattatreya Dargah, located at distance of 23 km from Chikkamagalur, is a unique dargah. Dargah — a place where the tomb of a Sufi and his disciples lies — is a term that most South Asians are familiar with. Many people, transcending the barriers of caste, creed and religion, visit dargahs and offer their prayers. It is also well known that the Sufi tradition is deeply interwoven with many of the Lokayata sects like Natha, Sidda and Avadhoota.

The Dattatreya sect, which had its origin and influence in southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka, is a unique confluence of Natha, Siddha, Maanubhaava and Sufi sects. It is the popular belief of his followers that Guru Datta, the foremost Guru of the sect, reveals himself to commoners through a Sufi. Dada Hayat Kalandar or Bababudan is one such Sufi.

Popular belief has it that he travelled from north Karnataka and stayed for some time in the caves of one of the horseshoe shaped hills in the Western Ghats, and, through the never–endinsg tunnel of the cave, Guru Datta came riding a tiger, to teach Baba. The horseshoe shaped hill, where the cave is located is popularly known as Bababudangiri (the hill that was Bababudan’s abode). It is believed that Baba continued on his journey, leaving behind a legacy and set of disciples through whom commoners can communicate with Datta. It is worth noting that there are three other Datta shrines of some repute in Karnataka, where brahminical rituals are observed; but devotees still come to Bababudangiri in large numbers, to offer prayers to Datta who reveals himself through a Sufi.

Today, at the Bababudangiri caves, there are four tombs of Baba’s disciples and beside them, the padukas of Guru Datta. Devotees who visit the dargah offer prayers to the tombs as well as the padukas. A mujavar is in charge of the place for its upkeep and for the facilitation of prayers.

As in most dargahs, the post of mujavar is held by a Muslim and is restricted to descendants of designated family. This tradition, assumed to be in vogue for hundreds of years, came into dispute in 1976, when the Wakf Board laid claim to the dargah property. This move was challenged in the Karnataka High Court. The petitioner argued that it was the place of worship for both Hindus and Muslims and hence could not be acquired by a Wakf Board.