The hillock that houses Kohe Imam-e Zamin dargah at Sainikpuri is a crowd puller

After a facelift, the Kohe Imam-e Zamin at Sainikpuri is attracting a lot of visitors

Sainikpuri in Secunderabad is quiet for most of the year. Even the 462-year-old Kohe Imam-e Zamin Koh means hill, Imam means leader and Zamin means guarantor) dargah sees the spiritually inclined only during the annual Urs.

The dargah of Kohe Imam-e-Zamin, also called Kohe Imam Pahadi because it is situated on a hillock, in Ammuguda , houses the Imam-e-Hazrate Abbas and Raza-e-ghareeb Imam. The hillock is 600 metres above sea level (as per the Al Kausar Trust that is currently taking care of the renovations) and was given this name during the Qutb Shahi period.

Presently, the hillock on which the dargah is situated and its surrounding areas are becoming popular among cyclists, athletes and runners training to get into the army and police: The steep incline offers a strenuous cardio routine.

Recent weekdays have seen a steep rise in footfalls, from the barely 100 in the mornings, to several hundreds throughout the day.

“The number of casual visitors has increased,” confirms Hamid, the caretaker at the dargah. The area has turned into an evening hotspot as visitors sit on the rocks and watch the sunset. Full moon days also apparently draw a lot of visitors.

So what has wrought this transformation in a year? The hillock and its surrounding areas including the dargah have been renovated and got a much-needed facelift. The boundary walls around the dargah which were in a state of disrepair have been raised and rebuilt.

A team engaged in the renovation of the premises has also had to deal with heaps of litter left by careless visitors. Now, a concrete and metal framework that supports the dargah’s main hall and inner core, gives strength to the lime and stone structure. The flight of 147 steps that lead to the top of the hillock, that would plunge into darkness at night, is now well-illuminated, thus making it safer for visitors at night.