An ascetic’s world. The shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Naseeruddin Mahmud Roshan Chirag Dilli is bathed in fragile tranquility. Situated in South Delhi, the dargah is circled by a typically charming urban village consisting of shaving salons, gyms, groceries, corner temples and stray dogs. Yet, it has...
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In search of your self. The room is small. The roof is of tin. The four walls are pink. The earthen pots are filled with water. The white marble tombstone is inscribed in Urdu and Hindi. The shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Turkman Bayabani is situated...
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Celebrating the saint’s death. The Urs ceremony, or the death anniversary, of Delhi’s 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, starts on February 27 2013. It will end on March 3. Urs means “wedding” in Arabic and it symbolizes the union of the lover with the beloved,...
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The long night of Sufi songs. The Ghusal Sharif, or birth celebrations, of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the 14th century Sufi saint, was held on the night of January 8 2013. It took place in the courtyard of his dargah in central Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, a historic...
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A woman Sufi. The shrines of many Sufi saints in Delhi are barred to women. So it is liberating to be in a dargah dedicated to a woman. Bibi Fatima Sam’s tomb in central Delhi’s Kaka Nagar is the city’s most serene (and cleanest) Sufi shrine. It...
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The ritual of sacrifice. The goat was priced at Rs 7,000. It was purchased by the head of the family two days before Eid ul Zuha, or the feast of sacrifice, also known as Bakra Eid. The special bazaar for the festival was held in front of...
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Praying in the street. There were no women to be seen. (They probably remained inside their homes.) The men filled up the mosques and also the streets to perform the prayers of Eid ul Fitr, the Muslim festival that arrives after 30 days of fasting. The Delhi...
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Feasting and fasting in Ramzan. The kaleji and korma are done. The khajla has been left to soak in milk. As her daughter-in-law Sumaiya slices onions for the salad, Rashida Qureshi, 50, adds rice to yakhni. “The biryani will be ready in 15 minutes, inshallah,” she says. It is the...
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Celebrating a woman Sufi. The Urs, or the death anniversary celebrations, of Bibi Zulekha, the mother of Delhi’s 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, will be celebrated on April 22 and 23, that is on Sunday and Monday. Known as Mai Sahiba, her dargah lies in...
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Alone with a Sufi. Tamarind tree. Chess board floor. White arches. Blue lamps. Green dome. The dargah of Shah Sabir Bakhsh Chishti in Daryaganj, central Delhi, has a marble courtyard, a mosque and a fish-filled ablution tank in which the ripples spread gently across the water. The...
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