Vikarabad: A village in Telangana's Vikarabad district is keeping alive the age-old traditional relationship with a spiritual saint by adopting the initials of the saint in their names en masse. In Madanapalle village located in Bomraspeta mandal of Vikarabad district, ask anybody of his or her name and you would find that the initials 'Ba' are in everybody's name.
In this village, most of the people in the age group of 30 to 50 years are named Babayya for males and Babamma for females irrespective of caste and religion. The coincidence is the shared reverence among people of different faiths in Madanapalle for the saint Baba Sahib and his shrine located in the village.
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Although the younger generation has tailored the long traditional names of Babayya and Babamma down the line, however, the initials anyhow appear in the names of today's generation. The reverence for the saint at the village is irrespective of faiths. There is no difference on the basis of caste and religion. No matter what caste, no matter what religion, Baba's name is given to everyone.
There is no such house in the village without an inmate named with the initials 'Ba' out of respect for the saint. The shrine of Baba Saheb is equally respected by the locals. Not only from the village, the shrine has visitors from far and wide. The Baba Sahib Dargah is located on the outskirts of the village. This dargah is nestled amidst an ancient banyan tree.
According to the legend, the shrine has a history of 200 years. The dargah is said to be known for fulfilling the wishes of devotees. Locals believe that if people, who want to have children offer prayers at this dargah, then they will blessed with kids. If their wishes are fulfilled, the devotees perform 'Kandooru', a special ritual. Every two years, the villagers organise Urs at the Baba Sahib shrine.
