Trance music in Delhi’s most famous sufi shrine. Every Thursday evening music lovers gather at Nizamuddin dargah, the shrine of Delhi’s 14th century sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. They wait for the Nizami Khusro Bandhu, a family singing here since 750 years, to settle down with their...
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Holy and serene. Not as open and airy as Bangla Sahib gurudwara in Connaught Place, Seesganj Sahib is as serene as any spiritual destination should be. It was built in memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, who was beheaded here on the orders of...
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Celebrating the saint’s death. Saturday evening, April 3rd, 2010. The sufis are celebrating the death anniversary of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi’s 14th century sufi saint. On this day, he married his lover. That is, the saint’s soul united with his beloved, the God. Urs means ‘wedding’ in...
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One of the one per cent in 13 million. This is her first visit to a Church, but she is sleeping through it. On the warm morning of February 27, 2010, Sarah Rose is being baptized in the Cathedral Church of the Redemption. Her mother, Jaya Bhattacharji,...
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The qawwals of Hazrat Nizamuddin. It is amusing to see Delhiwallas scramble for pricey tickets each time a ‘big’ sufi music star such as Abida Parveen or Kailash Kher lands in the town for a concert. People can always go each Thursday evening (6.30 pm) to the...
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Colour me yellow. On January 19th, 2010, the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was all yellow. It was the eve of Basant Panchmi, the day that marks the arrival of spring. Hence yellow, the colour of the energy-giving sun. The shrine’s qawwals (singers), who were wearing yellow...
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The land of Vishnu. Spread over seven acres, Shri Lakshmi Narain temple, popularly called Birla Mandir, is a dense neighbourhood of gods. A world in itself, it is a land of plenty. It has shops, phone booths, photo studios, a dispensary and a dharamshala (guesthouse). It has...
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Mourning and celebrating. It is December 24th, 2009. Late night. A few people — some of them historians, diplomats, designers, actors — are driving to Nizamuddin East, a neighbourhood near Humayun’s Tomb. The same night, a larger crowd, more varied, is heading to an address in Lodhi...
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Finding peace in the Hindu epic. Mrs Pushpa Singh’s living room in Vasundhara Valley Apartment Society has been turned into a makeshift temple. She and her husband, Kshetra Pal, are hosting Ramayan Paath, a continuous reading session of Ramcharitmanas, a Hindu epic on Lord Ram. Written in...
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A must-see sight before you die. One of the things to do in Delhi before you die is to watch the daybreak at Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, the shrine of the 14th century sufi saint. Embedded within a village of the same name (Nizamuddin Basti), the Dargah is...
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