City Landmark – Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s 720th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
A poet-saint’s anniversary [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] As monuments go by, it is not instantly striking. But it is cloaked in rich layers of histories. In the beginning, it was just a marble grave and remained so…
City Faith – Shani Temple, Rao Tula Ram Road
Shrine to Saturday. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Once upon a time, very long ago, a Walled City gali was home to a community of citizens called dakot. They workshopped Shani Dev and would ask for dakshina, or…
City Faith – Shab-e-Barat Night, Panj Peeran Graveyard
Living with the dead. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The midnight moon is shining upon the land beneath, but the land has its own lights. On this night of Shab-e-Barat, a special occasion in the Islamic calendar (commemorated…
City Faith – Basant Panchmi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
Season’s greetings. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Someone today will put on a yellow scarf. Somebody else might pick up a yellow turban, or perhaps a yellow kurta. Some other might do with a yellow rose, though yellow…
City Landmark – Bani Temple, Gurgaon
A shrine with a view. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] So surreal. These gigantic stalagmites stranded in the polluted air. They are actually far-off business towers, their view diffused in the winter fog. The scene shifts with a…
City Landmark – Hazrat Chirag Dehli Shrine in Winter, South Delhi
Cold courtyard. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The air is windier than elsewhere in the city. The cold too is colder. With its vast courtyard, and its many trees, the sufi shrine of Hazrat Chirag Dehli is one…
City Faith – Chitli Qabar Dargah, Chitli Qabar Chowk
Sufi shrine, now and then. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The long, curving crack on the discoloured wall evoked the course of a river. A tiny uneven gap through the same wall disconcertingly showed the flower shop on…
City Faith – Night-Long Qawwali, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
The rest is noise. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is world-famous for its qawwalis, the sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The dargah’s most special night in the year falls tonight. The qawwalis will be offered at…
City Faith – Shiv Temple, Jor Bagh
An oasis. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hill, trees, bushes, grass. And to top it all—a temple at the top. Being here is like a get together with solitude and peace. People travel to sacred seclusions in the…
City Monument – Jagannath Temple, Hauz Khas Road
Vision in white. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Amid acres of dusty brown ruins, rises an apparition in spotless white. This afternoon, Sree Jagannath Mandir is looking like an edifice of ice. The only notable interruption to its…
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