Nagore Dargah

Nagore Dargah, in the coastal town of Nagore in Nagapattinam district, rises over the grave of Syed Abdul Qadir Shahul Hamid, a Sufi saint, locally called Nagore Andavar, the ruler of Nagore. Born at Manikpur in present-day Uttar Pradesh, he was a descendant of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, and he is believed to have worked many miracles here, including curing the 16th-century Thanjavur ruler Achuthappa Nayak.

The shrine was built by his devotees with major help from Hindus, and it remains a pilgrimage centre for both faiths, often seen as a symbol of their peaceful coexistence. Of its five minarets, the tallest was raised by Pratap Singh, the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur in the 18th century. The biggest event of the year is the Kanduri festival, fourteen days of celebration marking the saint's death anniversary.