City Faith – Hara Mandir, Gali Choori Wallan
Faith in green. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The temple is immersed in utmost quietude, so much so that you feel that if you concentrate enough, you might hear Devi Durga breathe. Attired in an orange fabric, her…
City Faith – Shiv Prajapati Mandir, Near New Delhi Railway Station
A wayside shrine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the Capital’s super-congested heart, next to the New Delhi railway station. Outside, the road is clogged with cars and autos and the pavement packed with purpose-filled masked humans….
City Faith – Free Church, Green Park
Souvenirs of Christmas. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Encountering a collection of decorations after the event they were meant to celebrate is over presents a poignant sight. Like, the morning after the wedding. Or the day/s after Christmas,…
City Faith – Consoling Windows, Krishna Temple, Gurgaon
The light these times. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This unfortunate year is nearing its end. From March onwards, every life has been defined by the coronavirus pandemic. Everybody has suffered his or her share of small and…
City Faith – Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Kucha Pati Ram
The sacred secret. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The courtyard is flooded with daylight. The marble feels cold to the bare feet. A hand pump lies in the corner. This tranquil destination is one of the very few…
City Faith – Sheetla Mata Mandir, Gurgaon
Goddess of smallpox. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On Mondays, Sheetla Mata Mandir in Gurgaon, in Greater Delhi Region, attracts the biggest crowd in the week — or at least it used to be so in the BC…
City Faith – Lockdown Epic Reading, Ghaziabad
From choir to duet. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They would always take the possibility of unexpected monsoon showers into account, as well as that of unexpected power cuts. But they hadn’t thought of this situation. Every year…
City Faith – Newly Restored Sufi Shrines, Hazrat Sarmad & Hazrat Hare Bhare Shah
A pandemic-era restoration. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A historic place in Delhi, drastically transformed. While life in the city has severally shrunk due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the capital’s most important Sufi shrines, or dargahs,…
City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 716th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Sufi Shrine
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Places of worship are allowed to open from today—after being closed all this while due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the…
City Faith – Shitala Mata Temple, Gurgaon
The goddess of fevered times. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Many of us are eagerly dreaming of the happy day when corona virus will disappear from the face of earth, and when we — newly vaccinated folks —…
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