SHRINE OF BABA ABDULLAH GAZI
Baba Abdullah Gazi’s tomb is in village Gazriyal which lies 22 kms West ofKupwara Town. His real name was Shah Abdullah and because of his Saintly statushe earnedvarious titles, namely Baba, Gazi, Sheikh and Mastana. As a Saint he is said to have achieved and contributed a lot for the cause of Islam. Initiated by Baba Nasib-ud-Din Gazi in the Suhrawardi order he was given thecharge of Vutr Pargana and was directed to spread the message of tauhid there.
To achieve this goal he laid out several mosques, repaired many dilapidated ones and dedicated himself to the cause of poor. Fauq in his Tarikh-j-Aqwaam-i-KashmirSays that the Saint constructed/repaired 370 mosques and served the cause ofinnumerable poor.Consequently for the latter activity he was given the title of Abul Fuqara (Father of the poor). The tomb where Baba Abdullah Gazi’s body rests now was first erected immediately after his death by his murids (disciples). But the Shrine was destroyed during the Sikh Rule. The Shrine was re-constructed for the second time by the Rajas of Zachaldara, Handwara. It was a wooden shrine. This structure was finally dismantled in 1960’s and replaced by the existing concrete one.
