BALLARI: Amid the ruins of Hampi, near a century-old temple, sits a man offering azaan. Nothing extraordinary about that, one might say, until on closer look, it emerges that Errangalli Nabhisaab is praying by a Shivalinga. And after his prayers, he proceeds for a darshan of the Virupaksha shrine.
After Dasara festivities every year, Nabhisaab performs this special ritual of his own, inspired by his uncle, Errangalli Fakirsaab. The latter reads the mythological tale of goddess Durga (Devi Purana) at Huligemma temple in Ballari during Vijayadashami and after attending that, Nabhisaab heads to Hampi. Both hail from Errangalli village in Ballari district.
Typically, Nabhisaab says, he arrives a day before and wakes up early the next morning. He takes a holy dip in the Tungabhadra river, carries water to pour on the linga, and then sits in prayer in wet clothes. It has become a staple annual visit for the past five years.
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I am doing this for my satisfaction,” he says. “For me, Allah, Shiva, Krishna, Durga... all are one God. The god I love, I pray to. And I pray in my own way.”
After his prayer on the river bank, he heads to the famed Virupaksha temple with friends. The ritual, in fact, began when he came to Hampi once with his friends, Nabhisaab recalls.
It was a rather private affair until he was spotted by a local photographer, Shivashankar Banagar. “He asked for the photographs I took and I was pleasantly surprised when he gave me his name and details. It just showed how deeply rooted communal harmony is in our culture,” says Banagar.
Nabhisaab says he has been visiting Pandarinath temple in Maharashtra as well for the past seven years, going by padayatra.