A village in Gadag district in North Karnataka observes Muharram every year, and not one of its 2,500 residents of Hiremannur in Ron taluk is a Muslim. This has been a centuriesold syncretic tradition and ‘Ale Habba’ — as Muharram is known in local parlance — is observed along with the installation of ‘Panjas’ and entering of the fire. “We observe Ale Habba with devotion,” said Andappa Jigalur, an elder member in the village.