City Faith – Angelo Grossi’s Churches, Venice
Looking for the cross. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He always walks with his hand on his heart. Angelo Grossi believes in what he calls Proustianity, but still, he attends the evening mass every Sunday at San Giacomo…
City Faith – Shylock’s Synagogue, Venice Ghetto
Inside Shakespeare’s temple. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] More than four centuries ago, he must have stood week after week under this same chandelier to pray within these same walls. His unfaithful daughter must have stood in the…
City Notice – Basant Panchmi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
The yellow season. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Listen, be there at the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya sharp at 4.30 pm, 13 February. The short-lived season of Sufi Basant starts from that great shrine exactly that instant….
City Faith – Midnight Mass, St James’ Church
Holy night, cold night. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The night sky was not clear enough to show its thousands of stars but the white moon glowed radiantly. That was hardly a comfort. It was freezing cold. The…
City Faith – Thursday Evening, Hazrat Turkman Shah’s Dargah
Beyond qawwali. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every respectable Delhi guidebook tells you to visit the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya on Thursday evening, aka jumeraat, the big night before the Islamic sabbath. That’s when the qawwal…
City Faith – Hanukkah Candles, Paharganj
The Temple memories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s the light of Hanukkah, the weeklong Jewish festival that enters its penultimate day this cold evening. The Delhi Walla spots the customary candles of Hanukkah in Main Bazaar, a…
City Faith – Ravan is Alive, Vasundhara Valley Apartments
The immortal life of the king of Lanka. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is the morning after Dusshera. The king of Lanka is again dead. Ravan was burned last night in the lawns of Vasundhara Valley Apartment,…
City Faith – Reading the Goat’s Mind, Gali Chamre Wali
Last thoughts. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was the morning of the Muslim festival of Eid ul Zuha, or Bakra Eid, in which animals are sacrificed to commemorate the legend of a devout man’s complete surrender to…
City Faith – Spotting Muslim Women, Eid ul-Fitr, Turkman Gate
Daughters of the Eid. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was a sea of men. One insufferably humid morning The Delhi Walla attended the prayer ceremony of Eid ul-Fitr at the Faiz Ilahi Masjid, a white-marble mosque tucked…
City Faith – Passover Meal, Chabad House
Next year in Israel. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Happy Passover. The Jewish people celebrate Passover for their deliverance from the slavery in Egypt. It is the beginning of freedom. Tonight there will be the ritual feast of…
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