A serene space.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The air is filled with the peep-paw of car horns. This April afternoon is hot. The sun is harsh, an almost blinding white. The city feels hectic and super-stressed, here on Ring Road in central Delhi’s Bhikaji Cama Place. Planes pass overhead, flying low. There is no respite from the chaos of the surroundings. And then—suddenly—a break in the pattern.

A spacious courtyard opens up. A tall semal tree rises into the sky. Looking at its tip instantly lifts the senses out of the rush below. This is Shiv Sai Hanuman Mandir. The premises this afternoon are permeated in total tranquility. The discordant sounds of the busy Ring Road still reach inside, but are dulled by the stillness of the courtyard.

The temple might not be very well known, but it is extraordinary in its capacity to hold such peace while being flanked by the city’s restless bedlam. The courtyard floor is patterned like a chessboard, white and black squares laid out in careful order. Along the walls, potted plants stand in a line; one is dense with purple sadabahar flowers. Benches lie in a row, drawing one toward them like a passenger drifting toward an empty chair in an airport lounge.

It turns out that the aforementioned semal tree is not technically part of the temple; it stands just beyond its boundary wall. Yet the tree feels inseparable from the courtyard, its branches spreading above the small shrine to Sai Baba.

As its name suggests, the temple is composed of several shrines. The central shrine is devoted to Ram Darbar, Radha Krishna, and Shiv Parvati. A brass bell, painted yellow, hangs from the ceiling. Along one side is a row of cooking gas cylinders, occasionally used to prepare sacred meals for the bhandara for devotees, along with a harmonium used during prayers and bhajans—so says Om Prakash Pandey, the temple priest (see photo). The priest is a native of the holy town of Prayagraj, and been serving in the temple for eighteen years. He, too, plays the harmonium, he says.

Outside the main shrine, a metal donation box is topped with a thali of marigold flowers. Behind it, a notice is stuck to the wall, bearing a barcode for donations. The notice also carries the phone number of the president of the so-called Mandir and Palika Bhawan Automobile Association. The Bhawan complex stands behind the temple.

At Sai Baba’s shrine, tucked into a corner of the courtyard, a marble representation of Sai Baba’s feet is presently adorned with a single sadabahar flower. The sight is poignant.

The temple is open from 6 a.m. to noon and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.