Kabir Sahib, the 15th Century mystic poet, is buried in Maghar.Maghar is located at 26.76°N 83.13°E. It has an average elevation of 68 metres (223 feet).
Maghar is beyond religions. Kabir, the 15th century enlightened master and mystic poet from Kashi,the Samadhi of Kabir Sahib is here. Magahar is 78 km from Kausambhi, and not far from Gorakhpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
He was loved equally by Muslims and Hindus, and on his death both a mazaar (tomb) and samadhi were built by the Muslims and Hindus respectively. His mazaar and samadhi stand side by side. An annual festival is held here on Makar Sankranti 14th January.
Kabir Sahib chose Maghar above Kashi because as an enlightened soul he wanted to dispel the myth that anyone breathing his last in Magahar is born a donkey in his next life.
The enlightened master, Kabir Sahib left his body in Maghar in Januanry, 1518, Magh Shukl Ekadashi according to the Hindu calendar in Vikram Samvat 1575.
How to reach Magahar
Maghar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Sant Kabir Nagar district in the plains of Uttar Pradesh, India.
Maghar is located at 26°46′N 83°08′E / 26.76°N 83.13°E / 26.76; 83.13.
By Train: Maghar railway station is between Basti and Gorakhpur on the Lucknow-Gorakhpur B.G. Railway line.
By Road: A drive from Lucknow the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, to Maghar takes about 6 hours. …Starting from Lucknow, taking NH28 via Barabanki, Faizabad and Basti.
By Air: Lucknow's Amausi airport is connected by domestic and a few international flights.
Sant Kabir Sahib, the 15th century Saint and poet. would have been lost in the history books like many others had it not been for the place where he chose to leave the world. The place, called “Magahar”’, about 240 km from Lucknow, was then considered to be cursed, something many people still believe.
The powerful “purohits” (the upper caste Brahmin priests) had declared then that any one who breathed his last in the region, would not get a place in the heavens and he would instead take re-birth as a donkey.
Sant Kabir Sahib, who believed in breaking the myths and whose works tried to demolish the age-old superstitions and the caste system, originally belonged to “Kashi” (the old name of Varanasi), which was and is still considered to be a sacred land and it is believed that those who die there, get a place in heavens.
Even today, many Hindus hold a similar belief. In fact, thousands of old people, mainly widows, go to Varanasi and await death in the hope of attaining salvation.
Sant Kabir Sahib, however, did not believe in all this and in order to demolish the myth, he chose Magahar to leave his body. His famous lines… ‘jo kabira Kashi mue to rame kaun nihora’ (what is the need for worshipping the God, if one can go to heaven simply by dying in Kashi), aptly sums up his philosophy of life.
Today the place attracts thousands of Sant Kabir Sahib’s followers drawn from across the world. “Sant Kabir Sahib’s philosophy is perhaps the most relevant one in today’s world… it can bring peace on the earth as it preaches equality among all the religions,’’ says Mahant Vichar Das, the head of the Trust that looks after the tomb, a protected monument.
Spread on 27 acres of land, the place reminds one of the teachings by the Sufi poet, who spent his last days here meditating. The “mazar” and “samadhi” of Sant Kabir Sahib lie side by side.
“Sant Kabir Sahib had dared to challenge the supremacy of the purohits at a time when none had the courage to do so…. the purohits did not like him,’’ points out Dr Harisharan Das Shastri, who teaches philosophy at a local degree college.
Sant Kabir Sahib's followers included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others, who may be following different religions. “Sant Kabir Sahib belongs to all…. his teachings are universal,’’ Shastri told Deccan Herald.
According to the legend, Sant Kabir Sahib chose to leave the world at the age of 120. There was a fight between his Hindu and Muslim followers after his death over his taking possession of his body. “When they lifted the cloth that covered his body all they found was some flowers, which they divided between them’’, he said.
A few hundred metres away from the “samadhi”, lies a “gufa” (cave), where Sant Kabir Sahib used to meditate. The Trust also runs a “Sant Kabir Sahib Shodh Sansthan” (research foundation) that promotes research on the works of Sant Kabir Sahib, Mahant Vichar Das says. It also runs a series of educational institutions where Sant Kabir Sahib’s teachings have been included not only in the curriculum but also implemented in practice.
“We teach the students to be rational and shun orthodoxy and superstition’’, he said adding that the followers also take up ecological issues. Only recently, they
organised a demonstration to protest rising pollution in the Aami river, which is the life line of the local people.
The town seems to have adopted Sant Kabir Sahib’s philosophy in true spirit. The Hindus and Muslims can be seen to be living in the town in perfect harmony and peace. At a time, when communal harmony has become a rarity, the Sant Kabir Sahib’s teachings can greatly help the mankind.
