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…
City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 719th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Sufi Shrine
Commemorating a legend. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Attention please. Now is the most important time in the calendar of Delhi’s poetry aficionados. Usually, a person’s birth anniversary is celebrated. In poet Amir Khusro’s case, it is his…
City Faith – Ramzan Treats, Old Delhi and Around Town
Season’s evenings. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Jama Masjid is lit for night. The facing street is jazzed up with lamps, buntings and selfie clickers. Salam Namaste to this evening in Ramzan, the Muslim month of quiet…
City Faith – Durga Mandir, Paharganj
A blessed street. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The lane is alive with the sound of a man singing a bhajan. Everything else this afternoon is quiet, as if to keep the sanctity of the sacred lyrics. The…
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…
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