Baba Hyder Reshi (Reshi Maloo)

The tomb of Baba Hyder Reshi popularly known as Harda Reshi or Reshi Molu, the saint at whose anniversary local people of the area abstain from flesh eating for one week, is visited by both Muslims and Hindus alike. The shrine is one of the famous places frequented by people from all over the valley. It is situated in Mohalla Reshi Sahib in Anantnag Town. The body of the saint is enshrined along with tombs of 21 of his disciples. Born on 29th Rajab, 909 Hijra (17-1-1504) A.D. in village Dandar of Anantnag in the house of Sheikh Abdulla a blacksmith by profession, Baba Hyder Reshi is said to have performed great miracles in his very childhood. He used to look after cultivation, tend cattle, and spent his life in complete celibacy. His spiritual guide had been Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom Sahib, a great saint of Kashmir whose shrine is situated on the hill of Hari Parbat located in Srinagar city. From him, he is said to have received religious education and spiritual inspiration.

Baba Reshi came into prominence when the then ruler of Kashmir Ali Shah Chak and the prince Yousuf Shah Chak started paying courtesy calls on him. The one time great scholar and Chief Qazi of Kashmir Baba Dawood Khaki also used to visit him. Reshi Sahib possessed great spiritual powers and abstained throughout his life from eating meat and onions. Some of the miracles attributed to him are given below:
An eighty year old devotee of the saint Abdul Rahim Badal who was a rich man had no issue and had given all hopes to have one. One day he visited the saint asked for what was apparently impossible. The saint offered an apple to his devotee. After nine months a male child was born in his house and was named Mohd Sharief. However, the child’s mother died. The child refused to suckle any other breast. When brought before him, the saint put his own finger into the child’s mouth which he at once started sucking. The child in his own adulthood attained spiritual enlightment and later joined as one of the disciples of the saint. The saint is said to have passed away in 976 Hijri (1568 A.D.) at the age of 67 years in deep meditation.

There is a relic in the shrine which has been passed from Khalifa Hazrat Ali to Sheikh Shahad-ud-din Suhrawardi and afterwards it is said to have been presented to Baba Reshi by Hazrat Makhdoom Sahib when the former accepted him as his spiritual guide. There is also a rosary and a walking stick of the saint preserved in the shrine of Reshi Sahib.