Qawwals in Nizamuddin for Basant

Things have been so hectic I haven't been able to write anything lately. Who would have thought that selecting sinks, taps, tubs and toilets could take so much time? Who would have thought there is a market for $1000+ (yes, that's 48,000 Rs) toilet flush systems (that's not even counting the toilet itself)? India is nothing if not a land of extremes!

I wanted to follow up my last posts with the pictures from the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. You'll have to go back in time to January 19, 2010 where I last left us trudging down Lodhi Road avoiding construction ditches, traffic and random piles of dirt. We made quite a spectacle, a ragtag band of folks all dressed in yellow straggling down the street and across the massive intersection on foot to get to the Nizamuddin neighborhood. Once we got into the narrow streets of this old neighborhood the group was quickly bunched back together.

The lanes got narrower and narrower as we approached the shrine. Vendors crowded the incense-smoke-filled space, from their little closet-like stalls they sold offering cloths, flowers (we picked up a basket of rose petals and rose garlands for the tourist price of 20 Rs), incense, jewelry and prayer beads among other things. The air was a mixture of incense and grilling meat (I'm sure it's much more fragrant when the temperature climbs to 100+) We offed our shoes (where we paid 5 Rs to a shoe minder) and donned our scarves before entering the outer shrine area. While several tombs were scattered around, this obviously wasn't the main scene. We did visit a small shrine where we women had to content ourselves with walking around the outside, peering through beautifully carved marble screens at the tomb inside and tying red string on to make a wish.

We stepped through the entry to the main shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi's 14th centure Sufi saint.  As it was the eve of Basant Panchmi, the day that marks the arrival of spring, the qawwal singers and other men were all wearing yellow scarves on their heads. Here once again we women weren't allowed inside so we gingerly stepped around the girls and women praying around the perimeter and made another wish with a red string tied to the carved marble screen.

There was a procession through the narrow lanes which ended up in front of the shrine where the head sufi accepted offerings of yellow mustard flowers (and money of course). We were seated to the side of the qawwal singers and had a front row seat for the singing that accompanied the offerings. They sang the Hindi qawwalis of the Persian poet Amir Khusro who was a great disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin. It was pretty intense sitting there seeing these men chanting, I can see how it could induce a trance after a while. I met the "head priest & Naib Sajjada Nashin" and his #2 after the ceremony, and this being the 21st century they gave me their business cards and got my email to keep me informed of other events and to invite me to other qawwal. I'd love to come to their regular Friday night ceremony!