City Faith – The Urs, Gharib Nawaz’s Dargah
The heart of Sufism.
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]
It is May 2014 and the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer is hosting his 802nd Urs (death anniversary).
200 miles from Delhi, the 13th century shrine is the heart of Sufism. In 2012 The Delhi Walla wrote about the Sufi saint’s 800th Urs here. The death anniversary of a Sufi is not mourned, but celebrated. Urs means “wedding” in Arabic and it symbolizes the union of the lover with the beloved, who is God.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, also known as Gharib Nawaz, established the Chishti silsila (order) in the subcontinent; its spiritual successors were Sufis like Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki of Mehrauli (south Delhi), Baba Farid of Pakpattan in Pakistan, and our Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.
While leaving you with some images from Ajmer, I pray that Khwaja Gharib Nawaz helps each of us find at least some minuscule meaning in a world that is beyond our comprehension.
In Khwaja’s company
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