Mission Delhi – Chand Nizami, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah Faith Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 2026May 28, 20260 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] At 64, Chand Nizami is beginning a new chapter. After performing for more than two decades with his nephews Shadab and Sohrab as part of the celebrated Nizami Bandhu qawwali group, the veteran qawwal says he will now perform separately. “I’ll no longer be seen with my nephews,” he says. “I want to start new innings.” Plus, his three sons have grown into young men, and he wants to sing with them instead. He describes his sons as pioneers in “techno qawwali.” The decision marks a significant shift in the world of qawwali at Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, among the most important centres of Sufism. Qawwali, the
City Faith – Shri Ganga ji Mandir, Gali Mira Wali Khurd Faith by The Delhi Walla - May 26, 20260 Shrine to the river goddess. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The temple priest is concentratedly washing the temple’s checkered marble floor early this morning. The water flowing from his plastic hose has most likely come from Yamuna ji, the sacred river that runs through Delhi and supplies much of the city’s water. The same Yamuna ji, further downstream along its course, flows past the Taj Mahal before merging with the great Ganga ji at the Sangam in Allahabad, now called Prayagraj. One imagines Ganga ji to have countless temples devoted to her. Yet they are difficult to find, at least in Delhi. One temple stands here in Old Delhi, beside Gali Mira Wali Khurd, near Chawri Bazar. Despite its rarity, the
City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 722nd Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 On a poet's anniversary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The news from Iran continues to be alarming. Delhi lies safely removed from that volatile part of the world, but only up to a point. For our city is a confluence of many cultures and languages, Persian among them. This week, that inheritance comes alive in the form of an anniversary, even as the world beyond is growing more dangerous. Delhi is observing the 722nd Urs, or death anniversary, of Amir Khusro, the 14th-century poet who principally wrote in Persian, the language of the elite in Khusro’s Delhi. Khusro’s poetry is particularly admired for weaving the formal Persian with the colloquial Braj Bhasha, the earthy language of parts of northern India. That said,
City Faith – Shiv Sai Hanuman Mandir, Ring Road Faith by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 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
City Faith – Madhu Mittal’s Fasting Salt, Ghaziabad Faith Food by The Delhi Walla - March 26, 2026March 26, 20260 Portrait of a Durga devotee. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] These days, her daily pooja has acquired an additional dimension. Every morning, Madhu Mittal sits in front of the household temple in the drawing room’s balcony, and lights camphor in a dried coconut shell filled with laung, batashe, supari, and paan. She prays to Devi Durga Maa, resuming her reading of the Sri Durga Saptashati. Today, she will complete all 13 chapters of the sacred text. For Navratri is ending, and so it being the final day of her “vrat,” or fast. During this period, Madhu has been abstaining from rice, dal and most veggies. Madhu is not alone. For the nine days of Navratri, many Hindu households in the city
City Hangout – Ramzan at 5am, Outside Jama Masjid Faith Food Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 2, 20260 On the sacred month. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year during Ramzan, Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is strung with lights. The surrounding lanes glow with lamps and buntings, drawing selfie-seekers in search of the right angle. Across the road, in Matia Mahal Bazar, pavements fill with snack stalls selling sevai and khajla. Carts are stacked with dates from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Coconut parathas—made only in this month—reappear. “Come late night,” seasoned chroniclers of Ramzan advise. The script is familiar, faithfully documented by Instagram reel-makers. Less often suggested: arrive at 5 in the morning. This is Ramzan in a quieter register. For a month, Muslims observe roza, fasting from dawn to dusk. Iftar—the evening meal that breaks the fast—is communal,
City Season – 2026 Basant Panchmi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith Nature by The Delhi Walla - January 23, 20260 The return of yellow. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Red roses everywhere; including on the marble floor. The Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in central Delhi feels like a sanctuary to this flower, as it is to its 14th century patron saint. Indeed, the lanes to the dargah lie crammed with rose stalls. Pilgrims buy these roses as they walk towards the shrine, carrying the flowers as offerings. By day’s end, Hazrat Nizamuddin’s grave gets buried beneath mounds of red roses. The roses reign in the shrine throughout the year—except for one day, when the red gives way to yellow. That special day is today. This evening, the dargah will receive visitors in yellow caps, turbans and scarves. They
City Monument – Churches, Around Town Faith Monuments by The Delhi Walla - December 24, 20251 Christmas Eve edifices. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Edifices of stone. Stately domes. Long aisles. Sombre organ music. And an echoing silence that seems to sing and speak. Delhi’s great churches strike awe with their architecture and history. Today, let us launch into Christmas Eve by offering an ode to two lesser-known churches—before arriving at the city’s greatest church. Consecrated in 2010, the Catholic church of St Peter’s in New Palam Vihar is topped with a modest cross. The walls inside are framed with wood-cut images inspired from the final moments of Christ: “Jesus falls the third time,” “Jesus robbed of his garments,” “Jesus nailed to the cross,” “Jesus dies on the cross,” etc. The altar shows Jesus in white robes
City Faith – Mai Sahiba’s Dargah, Old Delhi Faith by The Delhi Walla - December 9, 2025December 9, 20250 Pilgrims’ progress. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are bearing long scraggy beards. They are dressed in turbans, and long kurtas. Their necks are loaded with chains of colourful stones. Their fingers are decked with rings. They form a crowd, but each of them appears to be immersed in his own private world, as if he were utterly alone. These are fakeers. Tonight, they are packed into a tiny courtyard. The courtyard is part of a Sufi shrine. The shrine is barely known in the city. Even so, this dargah in Old Delhi, hidden away in a corner, along the stone walls of Jama Masjid, is among the city’s most rare Sufi shrines. For it is devoted to a woman. Only two
City Faith – Shree Hanuman Mandir, Hauz Khas Village Faith by The Delhi Walla - October 29, 20250 Faith on the Main Lane. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Loud music. Chattering crowds. This evening in Hauz Khas Village could be any evening here. Indeed, it is always the same scene in the fashionable south Delhi destination. The place zealously pulsates to the moment, propelled by the youthful zest of its commerce. It is also timeless, because of its 14th century monuments. While these HKV characteristics have been noted many times over, nobody yet has taken a serious note of the village’s one more crucial aspect—the Shree Hanuman Mandir. HKV has actually two temples. The Shiv Mandir is in a remoter back-lane, and not easily trackable. It is the recently renovated temple of Hanuman ji that gives an assertive character to