City Faith – Graves Facelift, Hazrat Chirag Dehli
A historical destination in a time of change. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Old graves are getting a makeover. The ones that had sunk into the earth, reduced to being a wrinkle on the ground, have been raised,…
City Landmark – Lankeshwar Mahadev Mandir, New Delhi Railway Station
Gods by the tracks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Saaye saaye, so whistles the forceful afternoon breeze. But the peepal is staying unmoved. No leaf stirs. Its branches, bare. The courtyard too is bare, of humans. But it…
City Faith – Bankey Bihari Mandir, Inder Walli Galli
House of faith. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The lady in blue sari is walking down the lane of Inder Walli Galli, here in Old Delhi. At each step she pauses and takes a deep breath. She stops…
City Faith – Gospel Hall Assembly, Connaught Place
Peace island [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The air is viscous with traffic sounds. The afternoon light is hard on the eyes. Such is the sense of the day, here at the H block Outer Circle in Connaught…
City Faith – Sufi shrine, Redeveloped Central Vista
First day in the new Central Vista. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This Sufi shrine tucked in the Central Vista lawns, close to Janpath Road, used to be a little island in the pond. Circled with trees, it…
City Faith – Mandir Chaurasi Ghanta, Seetaram Bazar
A temple with sound. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Tnnnnm. The sound at first has a sharp tone, and then wafts around the air, growing softer and calmer, passing along like a light breeze. After that it rushes…
City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 718th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Sufi Shrine
Commemorating a legend. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This should start with one of his paheliyan, or riddles. “Invisible, but they call it tender Feels bad, but it evokes laughter” A tickle! Today is the 718th Urs —…
City Faith – Pracheen Shiv Mandir, Daryaganj
A barely known temple. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The scenes outside are passing in a blur. All you can see are lights flashing on the glass window. It’s like sitting in a super-fast Shatabdi. But this isn’t…
City Faith – Tree God, Hanuman Temple
Sacred green. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This small Hanuman temple stands in a sprawling yard, here in south Delhi. A peepal tree’s sharp-tipped leaves make a jungle of shadows on the temple’s back wall. But the compound…
City Faith – Lockdown Ramzan, Jama Masjid, Gurgaon
A world in pandemic. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The forever-optimistic Nashir Ahmed Khan in gloom? Impossible, you would think. But the second surge in the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything. “I’m badhal (in bad shape),” he says,…
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