Author : Muneer Ahmad
The area is famous as Batamaloo, but before that, this area was called Ramlon, and the village was called "Widyawaran." This area became famous during 1600 AD when the whole Kashmir valley underwent "Extreme Hunger," causing immense suffering. Batamaloo was a village at that time, which has now become one of the Mohallas of Srinagar city.
A saint named Sheikh Dawood Rishi (ra) lived here. He was very pious and God-fearing, known for his extreme honesty. When plowing his land, if he had to pass through someone else's land, he would clean the oxen's hooves to avoid carrying any soil from another’s property, as he considered it equivalent to snatching someone's property.
Sheikh Dawood was a famous saint connected to Khawaja Yousuf Katju and had Allah Daad as his teacher. He became notable during the 1600 AD famine because he started serving food to the hungry people daily. People began calling him "Bat Mol," meaning a person giving cooked rice, and thus the area became known as "Bat Mol," which we now know as Batamaloo.
Another aspect mentioned by Shafi Ahmad Qadri in his book states that Sheikh Baba Dawood had a majority of Pandit devotees, who named him "Bat Mol." Which of these two origins is more valid is something only learned Kashmiris can guide us on.
His shrine, constructed about 100 years ago by Umar Khan of Batamaloo, is a single-storey building with a Chinese-style 'Char Bam' roof, topped by a wooden Breng of Rishi style. On the right side of the shrine is the KhanKah Of Batmal Sob, also known as LangarKhana. The annual urs is celebrated here in March or April on the 24th date of the Hijri Calendar. During the urs, only vegetarian food is cooked, such as dried vegetables and pulses, because Baba Dawood was a vegetarian. The urs also coincides with the season of strong winds, hence Bat Mal Sob was called Waaw E BatMol.