By Ruchika Talwar - Delhi Newsline - Delhi, IndiaSunday, June 24, 2007
Every Friday at sundown, a neglected corner of Nizamuddin, 100 yards away from the bustling railway station, comes alive with the soulful strains of a qawaali.
The spiritual music immediately throws you back to a different era and a glorious past we tend to forget.
At the dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the great grand son of Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan, the senior most qawwal of the Nizamuddin area pays tribute to the man who made it his mission to spread Sufi music across the world.
“My ancestors have been qawwals for the last 750 years and this is our hereditary profession. Now, my sons have taken up the mantle and will continue singing here after me,” says Ustad Meraj Ahmed Nizami. Meraj is now pushing 80 and has been singing at the dargah for the last 39 years.
Few know that Hazrat Inayat Khan was the grandfather of Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman radio operator and Special Operations Executive (SOE) to be sent into occupied France during World War 2. Author Sharbani Basu’s book The Spy Princess is based on her.
Her grandfather spread Sufism to the West when he founded the Sufi Order International, which brought several Westerners into the Sufi fray. When he died in 1927, his body was brought to Delhi’s Nizamuddin area where he had already chosen his final resting place.
Nestled amidst the crowded basti, his tomb is like an oasis in the desert.
Every Friday at sundown, a neglected corner of Nizamuddin, 100 yards away from the bustling railway station, comes alive with the soulful strains of a qawaali.
The spiritual music immediately throws you back to a different era and a glorious past we tend to forget.
At the dargah of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the great grand son of Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan, the senior most qawwal of the Nizamuddin area pays tribute to the man who made it his mission to spread Sufi music across the world.
“My ancestors have been qawwals for the last 750 years and this is our hereditary profession. Now, my sons have taken up the mantle and will continue singing here after me,” says Ustad Meraj Ahmed Nizami. Meraj is now pushing 80 and has been singing at the dargah for the last 39 years.
Few know that Hazrat Inayat Khan was the grandfather of Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman radio operator and Special Operations Executive (SOE) to be sent into occupied France during World War 2. Author Sharbani Basu’s book The Spy Princess is based on her.
Her grandfather spread Sufism to the West when he founded the Sufi Order International, which brought several Westerners into the Sufi fray. When he died in 1927, his body was brought to Delhi’s Nizamuddin area where he had already chosen his final resting place.
Nestled amidst the crowded basti, his tomb is like an oasis in the desert.
Hazrat Inayat Khan’s dargah is tastefully built and spotlessly clean. The architecture of the tomb is an interesting mix of a French chateau and Persian haveli. The whitewashed walls of the premises stand out from behind grey cobblestone arches which merge with the white marble of the dargah.
A small, manicured lawn with a gulmohar tree in full bloom, adds colour to the pristine white building. The dargah is maintained by the Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust. The trust, chiefly funded by the Hazrat Inayat Khan’s mureeds (disciples) living abroad, runs a library, music classes, pre school and handicraft workshops for women. If you’re ever looking to explore Delhi’s past, a visit here on Fridays will cast a spell on you.
[picture: detail of the dargah, photo Wali van Lohuizen
http://www.sufimovement.org/dargah.htm ]
A small, manicured lawn with a gulmohar tree in full bloom, adds colour to the pristine white building. The dargah is maintained by the Hazrat Inayat Khan Memorial Trust. The trust, chiefly funded by the Hazrat Inayat Khan’s mureeds (disciples) living abroad, runs a library, music classes, pre school and handicraft workshops for women. If you’re ever looking to explore Delhi’s past, a visit here on Fridays will cast a spell on you.
[picture: detail of the dargah, photo Wali van Lohuizen
http://www.sufimovement.org/dargah.htm ]
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