Muhammad Ghaus (or Ghawth) was a 16th c Sufi saint and teacher of the Mughal emperor Humayun as well as Tansen, the famous musician in Akbar’s court. Continue reading
Tag Archives: dargahs
Lado Serai
I visited Lado Sarai for the first time to take a look at the few historical structures still standing there. While the structures are small and few, they are interesting to visit for various reasons. There are a couple of nameless tombs, one mosque and a dargah just outside the village. All three structures within Lado Sarai village are from the Lodhi era (15th c.) Continue reading
A Mosque (Okay Two) And A Dargah in Connaught Place
Mosque
There are many large and small structures within the area of “Lutyens’ Delhi” that predate the British imperial capital. This is not surprising since many villages existed in the area where the capital was built, and while most of these villages were razed, some of the religious structures – mosques, dargahs, temples and gurdwaras – were allowed to stand (and many, especially the gurdwaras, have grown in size and importance since then). Mosques were probably the most numerous religious structures, and are easily spotted today as their number and need for specific orientation made them difficult to incorporate into the new urban layout. They jut out onto roads (like the mosque on Janpath) and walkways (like the one on Baba Khadak Singh Marg) and occupy traffic circles (like on Kasturba Gandhi Marg and near Udyog Bhawan). Continue reading
Khatu
Khatu is the location of one of the four mosques I had discussed in my Four Ghurid Mosques post. The mosque is of significant historical importance, but the rest of the town is pretty intriguing as well. For me, Khatu is an example of the hundreds of small towns across India that have enough going in terms of architectural and urban history to warrant interest by conservators (and even tourists). Unfortunately the town lies in the middle of nowhere both literally and figuratively. Continue reading
Srinagar’s Mosques and Shrines
Most of Srinagar’s most famous shrines and mosques lie within or close to the old city. The architecture of these monuments is unique, mostly constructed of wood and brick/stone masonry, with multi-levelled sloping roofs and tall spires reminiscent of Hindu and Buddhist religious structures from the western and central Himalayas. They have elaborately and beautifully ornate polychromatic interiors finished with wood and papier-mache. Continue reading
Thursday Afternoon at Bakhtiyar Kaki’s Dargah
I visited Bakhtiyar Kaki’s dargah in Mehrauli on a Thursday, the busiest day at Sufi shrines, and here are a few images of the scenes and crowds, to complement the images and descriptions in the main dargah post.
North entrance to the dargah
Passageway leading into the dargah complex
Bakhtiyar Kaki’s tomb
Women are not allowed into the courtyard of Kaki’s tomb, and can only view the tomb through the surrounding screen
The large dargah complex has many courtyards and open spaces, some crowded and some more leisurely, like this one
Makeshift marketplace at the western entrance to the dargah
Food being prepared for pilgrims and visitors to the dargah, in front of the Zafar Mahal gateway
Dilli Darshan: Mehrauli
Mehrauli is a large urban village that grew around the shrine of the 13th c. Sufi saint Bakhtiyar Kaki, much like Nizamuddin grew around the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya (also 13th c. though a little later than Bakhtiyar Kaki). Kaki’s shrine was just outside the walls of Lal Kot, the fortified city within which the Qutb Minar is situated, and Mehrauli has grown right up to the edge of the now ruined fortifications. Continue reading
Dilli Darshan: Nizamuddin and Humayun’s Tomb
This is basically Dilli Darshaning around my own neighborhood, so I was really excited to explore this area. I live about a kilometer away from the two sites that this post is centered around: Humayun’s Tomb and the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, but there were a lot of places around these that I hadn’t been to before! Continue reading
Back to Dilli Darshaning
As always, click on image to go to its flickr set
Chirag Dilli
I’m finally back to my Dilli Darshan project, and so finally went to Chirag Dilli! This is the “urban village” I had posted an aerial image of in November, which was an almost perfect square from that view. On the ground, of course, things were not that orderly. Continue reading
Sarson ke Khet 