78 chapter
According to Secretary Maheen, the aff able director who I would often visit
when I arrived to conduct research at Beemapalli, the origin of the mosque
centers around the two people who are interred in these sarcophagi: Umma
and her son. Ummachi, the honorifi c but aff ectionate version of her name
everyone uses, was a Mother Teresa-like fi gure who came to South India hun-
dreds of years ago, allegedly from somewhere in the Levant, to aid the poor
and the ill. Ummachi traveled around southern India, and when she passed
away she was buried in Trivandrum. A mosque was later built at the site of her
grave, a smaller structure that preceded the current building that was erected in
- Beemapalli is thus reminiscent of shrines of Sufi saints that people visit
for healing in other parts of India and Pakistan.^27
Th e majority of people suff ering illness at Beemapalli come from nearby
districts of Kerala although many visit from the neighboring districts of the
state of Tamil Nadu, the state border being only about 15 miles away, and a
few devotees make it down from other parts of the country. Most visitors at
Beemapalli are Muslims who visit the mosque to pray, but a large number of
people of diff erent faiths come seeking help for health problems that range
from heart disease to infertility to psychopathology. According to mosque
offi cials and my own estimates, the number of people appealing for relief from
illness at Beemapalli at any time is around 150 to 200, of which the possessed
and suff erers of mental distress number close to thirty.
Figure 2. Beemapalli mosque.