A tale of Iskander Zul-Qarnain from Sri Lanka

[susan]

In the rocky, remote south-east corner of Sri Lanka is a shrine GÇô Kataragama, Kathirkamam, or Khadir-Gama, sacred to Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu alike. For Muslims, it is the shrine of Al Khadir or Al-Khidr, the Green Man; for Hindus, it is the shrine of Skanda, the Indian war-god; for Buddhists it is the shrine of Kanta-Kumara.This story was told to me by the Kataragama Mosque & Shrine Trustee al-Haj M.H.A. Gaffar. He has renovated a Dutch mansion inside the fort of Galle; the thick walls of the fort, built by the Dutch and English, protected it from the effects of the tsunami. On one side of the road is his museum ( http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw/hmmgalle.htm) ; on the other side of the road is his house. We sat in the courtyard sheltering from the monsoon; his granddaughter proudly showed her hands, hennaed for Eid (end of Ramadan); tortoises roamed the gardens and a 3-foot long iguana walked up the road outside, oblivious of passers-by. Hajj Gaffar received a stream of visitors, although heGÇÖd just left hospital after having a heart bypass the day before. He insisted on telling us the story of Alexander as he felt that it was his duty now to hand on these stories that he'd been told as a boy."According to Islamic tradition, after prophet Adam (alai) was expelled from Paradise, he came down from Paradise to Adam's Peak in Serendip (Sri Lanka) while Hawwa (Eve) came down to Jeddah; her tomb is there. From Adam up to the Holy Prophet Mohammed (uhbp) there have been 124,000 nabis or prophets, of whom 313 were rasuls or special prophets.Adam's footprint then was crusted with gems. The life span them was 1,500 years so that people then had time to walk all over the world. Only 25 nabis are mentioned in the Holy Quran. Almighty Allah has given more power (kudrath) to some rasuls than to others.Allah has sent different nabis to different peoples at different time and also teaching differently. One of them is Hayat Nabi, Hilur Nabi or Khidr ('the Green Man') who has many names. Out of the 124,000 nabis, Allah sent Hilur Nabi and his cousin al-Sikandar or Zul-Qarnain (Alexander the Great) to be born to two sisters, both of whose fathers were kings. Hilur's father was a village headman-type 'king', while al-Sikandar's father was an emperor. Iskandar Kumara, Iskandar Zul-Qarnain and Alexander the Great are among his names. Everyone calls the same one by many names; all are brothers and sister. Zul-Qarnain means 'two-horned'.
Iskandar Zul-Qarnain'

[susan]

Iskandar Zul-Qarnain's father was also an astrologer or vana sastra. He waited forty years for a conjunction of two stars/planets and remained celibate for the whole forty years. He told his queen, "If we have a child at that time, he will live until the end of the world. If we have a child one hour later he will rule the world under one flag." He had mahr+«fa or j+¦+ónam to know this. Meanwhile, the queen's sister heard all this from behind a pillar. She was the future mother of Hayat Nabi. When the time had almost come, the emperor told his wife, "I will pray and sleep now. At that time you must call me." That time came, but because of shame or shyness (lajja, vetkam)she hesitated. So the emperor overslept and missed the first opportunity. The first opportunity was Hayat Nabi's and the second was al-Sikandar's. When the two cousins grew up, they set out together to search for the ma'ul hayat or water of life. They came to Kataragama and went inside a tunnel in the mountain. They agreed to share the water, but only Hilur got it because Allah wanted to give it to him. Hilur brought it in a pot and set it down but a crow came and spilled it. Therefore the crow has long life. Anywhere Hayat Nabi goes that place is green. Now anyone who finds that place describes it as a tunnel full of gems. Hayat Nabi says to such people, "If you take the gems you are fools; if you don't take them you are also fools." Allah has put gems all around places like Kataragama, Jailani and Adam's Peak as a gift from Allah. Every kind of gems and many different climates are here in Sri Lanka. The tradition says that prophet Isha (Jesus) will come again and live for forty years. At that time, Hayat Nabi will fight Shaitan and Shaitan will cut him seven times but Hayat Nabi will not die. Isha will come forty years before the end of the world and Hayat Nabi is also living in this period. Only Almighty Allah can take Hayat Nabi's life. Hayat Nabi is not living in one place but is always traveling . Once every 500 years he returns here to Khadirgama.
He spends six months on land and six months at sea.
Prophet Musa was told by Allah to seek teachings from one greater in in wisdom than himself, from someone called a "servant of Allah". He was told to watch for a fried fish that would come alive and at that place he would find Hayat Nabi. Sura Kahlf (XVIII), verses 60-61 Musa is told to search for a junction near the sea. That place is here at Khadirgama."

[susan]

This was recorded by my friend Patrick Harrigan, who runs the Kataragama DevoteesGÇÖ Trust and has devoted his life to the service of the Kataragama shrine. You can read more about Kataragama at http://www.kataragama.org. I met Patrick through the Pothos forum; sitting in the HajjGÇÖs courtyard listening to tales of Iskander sent shivers down my spine as I thought of how many generations had heard tales like this, and wondered about him. There are other, deeper connections between Alexander and Kataragama, but they need more exploring.

[ruthaki]

What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[amyntoros]

This is a most curious story - mostly myth and then the historical figure of Alexander thrown in for good measure. He obviously made quite an impression during his short time in India! Did you hear any stories grounded more in history, such as Alexander having visited Sri Lanka with his army?Best regards,Linda Ann