City Faith – Hanukkah Evening, Paharganj

City Faith – Hanukkah Evening, Paharganj

The Jewish festival of lights. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 27 December, Tuesday, 7 pm. It was the final evening of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd…

City Faith - Christmas Traditions, Nizamuddin West

City Faith – Christmas Traditions, Nizamuddin West

Bhajans and rotis from Jharkhand. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A day before Bada Din, a day also known as Christmas, The Delhi Walla met a migrant from Jharkhand, eastern India, who left her land to make a…

City Faith - Agha Shahid Ali's Poetry, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

City Faith – Agha Shahid Ali’s Poetry, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

Qawwali at Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia’s Dargah. [Poem by Agha Shahid Ali; photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] I Between two saints, he shares the earth, Mohommad Shah “Rangeele,” (evoked in Paluskar’s khayal) The beggar-woman kisses the marble lattice, sobs on Khusro’s…

City Faith – Laddu Shah’s Dargah, GB Road

City Faith – Laddu Shah’s Dargah, GB Road

A historically unimportant sufi shrine. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] An obscure sufi shrine, the dargah of Imam Ullah Shah urf Laddu Shah Baba consist of a small dark chamber. Situated in GB Road, Delhi’s red light district,…

City Culture – The Sufi Music Crisis, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

City Culture – The Sufi Music Crisis, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

The struggle for the soul of qawwali. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Dama dam mast qalandar. Qawwali, Islam’s sacred Sufi music offered in the shrines of the Indian subcontinent, is facing a moment of unease. It is best…

City Faith – Urs Celebrations, Khawaja Qutub Dargah

City Faith – Urs Celebrations, Khawaja Qutub Dargah

Delhi’s oldest sufi shrine. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Reached via the congested bylanes of Meharuli, south Delhi, the shrine is entered through a broad uncovered pathway. Outside an old red mosque, sit the dargah qawwals. It’s a…

City Season – The Basant People, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

City Season – The Basant People, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

The yellow of the spring. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year as winter gives way to Delhi’s short spring spell, the Delhiwallas mark the shift in season by offering yellow mustard flowers at the shrine of Hazrat…

Photo Essay – Hazrat Nizamuddin’s Birthday Celebrations, Nizamuddin Dargah

Photo Essay – Hazrat Nizamuddin’s Birthday Celebrations, Nizamuddin Dargah

Night of the committed devotees. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 796th birthday of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the 14th century sufi saint of Delhi, was celebrated on the night of February 1, 2011. Forgetting their professional rivalries, musicians…

City Faith – The Sufi’s Birthday, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

City Faith – The Sufi’s Birthday, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

The night of the saint. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi’s 14th century sufi saint, is being decked up with flowers and electric bulbs to celebrate his 796th birthday. The night of…

City Culture - Ramlila, August 15 Ground

City Culture – Ramlila, August 15 Ground

The annual multi-starrer Hindu blockbuster. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Totally Shakespearean. It has love, jealousy, greed, lies, betrayal, revenge, war, death and redemption. Ramlila, the 10-day play on the exploits of Bhagwan Ram, which takes place every…