CULTURE-RELIGION: Shrine for All Seasons and Faiths

By Neena Bhandari Reprint | | Print |

Neena Bhandari

AJMER, India, Jun 30 1996 (IPS) - India today is a communal tinderbox. But in a resplendent shrine in this Western city, hundreds of thousands of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsees and other faiths worship quietly side by side.

And it is not only them, but also people from across troubled borders in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and even from the West who come to pay obeisance at the shrine or ‘Dargah’ of the mystic Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Hassan Chisti.

The Sufis believed that God is one and known by many names. The Khwaja or saint reinforced that belief. He said, “Let there be no compulsion in religion … No soul can believe but by the persuasion of God.”

Everyday 5,000 tourists come to seek the seer’s blessings. The number soars to 15,000 during the 15-day ‘Urs’ or death anniversary of the saint.

The Khwaja was born in East Persia in 1138-39 AD. He set out on a spiritual search at the age of 16. After remaining with a spiritual guide for 20 years, he began travels through Samarkhand, Bukhara, Herat, Lahore and Delhi, preaching the Koranic philosophy of unity of religion and gathering disciples along the way.

Finally at the age of 52, he landed in the state of Rajasthan where Ajmer is located. He lived till the age of 97 and his mortal remains are buried in the ‘Dargah’.

Since then, Mughal emperors and Hindu Maharajas, religious and political leaders, millionaires and destitutes have thronged the shrine.

In the beginning Sultanate Kings like Mohammad Bin Tughlak and Mohammad Khilji visited the shrine, setting up a mosque and a school. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb later had the mosque decorated with gold.

Today 200 children are taught Urdu and Arabic in the school. Alongside is a secondary school where 1,000 children are imparted free education, besides training in tailoring, computers and the fine arts.

The great Mughal Emperor Akbar travelled here on foot from Agra after he gave birth to a son. He erected a mosque in red sandstone as thanksgiving near the shrine.

He also presented a huge cauldron that can cook rice for up to 5,000 people to the shrine, besides two large drums and huge cash and land grants. His son, the Emperor Jahangir, presented a gold railing around the holy sepulchre and a cauldron to cook food for 2,500 people.

Even today rice is cooked in these cauldrons with sugar, clarified butter and dry fruits to feed the crowds of devotees. Barley meals are also cooked twice a day for distribution to the poor in the city.

Emperor Jahangir’s son Shahjehan, who built the Taj Mahal, constructed a marble mosque in the shrine premises besides a gate of fine timber coated with silver plated metal. His daughter Jahan Ara wrote a book on the saint and constructed a hall on one of the entrances of the tomb. The Hindu King Sawai Madhav Singh of Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital, donated a gate on the enclosure.

It was not only Mughal and Hindu Kings, but also Queen Mary of England who visited the shrine and had a roof constructed over a tank for ablutions.

In the recent past, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, King Birendra of Nepal, the President of Mauritius, former Indian Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia have visited the shrine.

Narrow lanes lined with shops selling rose petals, sweets and crochet caps lead to the main gate of the shrine. Here, a devotee is taken in hand by the ‘Khadims’ or hereditary custodians who serve and manage the affairs of the ‘Dargah’.

One of them, Abdul Meghani, says, “During Urs, well over a million rupees are offered here in cash.”

The 3,000 odd ‘Khadims’ are enrolled in a special society. “This 800-year-old society is authorised to receive and welcome the VIPs and foreign dignitaries,” says Syed Wahid Hussain Chisti, its secretary.

The Khadims escort devotees to the sepulchre that is covered with a sheet of woven gold and encrusted with many precious gems. There are two silver railing enclosures around it. On the northern and western walls are Koranic and Persian inscriptions.

The enclosure gate has a couplet engraved in gold while the doors to the gate are covered in silver. The four thick walls of the tomb support a huge white dome that is covered with a gold cupola. The surface of the dome is lighted with electric lamps.

“Tons of rose petals are offered to the saint daily,” says the Khadim. While the men busy themselves conducting devotees around the sepulchre, the women are busy knitting crochet caps to sell to the devotees who must cover their heads before entering the shrine.

“For many in this city, a living is earned only because of the grace of the saint,” says the Khadim. Most of the residents move out of the city and rent their dwellings during Urs.

In October 1988, a specially auspicious Urs that falls on the 786th death anniversary will draw millions of devotees. The administration is gearing up for the influx by widening roads, building rest houses and public facilities and constructing a special bypass to the shrine.