In the courtyard of literature, history, architecture, music.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Of all the cities, Delhi has the most Sufi shrines, thereby distinguished as ‘Bais khwaja ki chaukhat’, the threshold of 22 Sufis. The shrines far exceed this metaphoric number of course. The well-known among them are dedicated to saints such as Qutubuddin Bhakhtiyar Kaki, Sheikh Nassiruddin Chirag Dehlvi, and Bibi Fatima Sam, who is Delhi’s only female Sufi saint. This week, a shrine in central Delhi has taken centerstage among all the shrines.

The 722nd urs, or death anniversary commemoration, of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya began yesterday. Since a Sufi’s passing is celebrated (not mourned), Nizamuddin’s urs has always been a joyous occasion. Over the recent years, it has also grown to be a major date in the capital’s cultural calendar. The 14th century shrine has increasingly seeped into the city’s literature and popular culture. It appears in almost every book on Delhi; an evocative portrait exists in William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns. Renowned poets too have composed poems on the shrine, including Nobel laureate Octavio Paz. The dargah has also been the subject of chartbuster cinema songs, the most evergreen being AR Rahman’s Kun faya kun.

The shrine also commands a significance in history. Each of the 18 Mughal rulers maintained links with the dargah. After defeating Ibrahim Lodi in 1526, one of the first things that Babar did on entering Delhi was to pray at the shrine. His son Humayun built his capital, today’s Purana Qila, close to it. Humayun’s son, Akbar, built his father’s tomb on the same terrain. Their notoriously flamboyant descendant, Emperor Muhammed Shah “Rangila,” had it best: his grave lies within the shrine, next to Mughal princess Jahanara. While it is tragic that the last Mughal, the poor Bahadur Shah Zafar, was interred in distant Rangoon, at least some of his wives were lucky to be buried close to Nizamuddin’s shrine.

Inevitably, the dargah and its vicinity is rich in pioneering architecture. The monuments collectively showcase the most extensive stone jaali work in South Asia. And a tomb close to the shrine, Chausath Khamba, happens to be the world’s first Mughal monument in marble (Taj Mahal came later).

As for Sufi music, the most scholarly qawwal singer of our times offered qawwalis daily in the dargah, until his death 10 years ago. The late Ustad Meraj’s lineage is traced to Mian Samad bin Ibrahim, leader of the Qawwal Bachche. It was a group formed by poet Amir Khusrau that is believed to comprise the world’s first qawwals. Khusro’s grave too lies within the shrine.

Consequently, a visitor to Nizamuddin’s dargah enters not only a sama of Sufism, but also a dense treasure trove of history, literature, architecture and music. (The above photo from 2023 shows an eminent visitor, French Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux, entering the dargah courtyard).

Being the second day of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s five-day urs, this evening will witness Bari Raat, the Big Night. Special prayers will be followed by qawwalis. On Sunday night, per shrine caretaker Peerzada Syed Altamash Nizami, the qawwalis will continue till 2am. The festivities conclude on Monday, with qawwalis.