By Jaya Ramanathan - New Ind Press on Sunday - Chennai, IndiaSaturday, November 17, 2007
Tirupati, Velankanni, Ajmer Sharif, the Golden Temple... These are some of the pilgrimage centers in India that transcend religious barriers.
One has to travel to these holy nuclei to see secularism and religious harmony really in practice.
It was three years ago that we drove down to Jaipur with a couple of friends; from there we took a day trip to Pushkar and to nearby Ajmer Sharif, the dargah of Moinuddin Chishti.
A pilgrimage to Ajmer Sharif is regarded as second only to the ultimate trip to Mecca for practitioners of the Islamic faith.
The dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, the 12th century Sufi saint who founded the Chishtiyya order of Sufism in India is as holy and as crowded as any major religious center in the country. Yet there was no soliciting from any quarter.
A guide understood we were of a different faith and attached himself to us, but it was more to lead us to the shrine, and find us places close to the sanctum sanctorum.
With great pride he explained to us the life of the Gareeb Nawaz- Chishti who lived by the dictum: “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.” [Qur'an 2:256]
He led us out and when we offered him money he insisted we give it in at the collection office. We were most impressed.
My friend decided that she would finance her driver’s trip to Ajmer. The following year Ramzan made his pilgrimage, he took with him, his wife, mother, mother-in-law and sister. He is convinced God had made it possible for him to visit the Ajmer dargah since Mecca was out of his reach!
A bureaucrat friend, Anu, a few months ago asked me to accompany her to Ajmer Sharif, I was not able to do so, but it was interesting to learn her reason for visiting the place.
Knowing how desperate she was for a posting in Delhi, her colleague (also a Hindu) had asked for a mannat (boon) on her behalf. Once her wish had been granted she had to visit the shrine for thanksgiving.
She is now positive that if you make a wish for someone else at the dargah, it always works, but not necessarily if you make one for yourself.
“We visited all temples, churches and mosques…any place recommended by any well wisher… we were so keen to have a child,” recalls Maneka, now a mother of a 16- year-old. “When we went to the Ajmer shrine, I told myself this is the last place…no more of this pleading with different Gods….”
She soon found herself pregnant and believes it was the Sufi saint who finally granted her, her desire.”
“I am normally not a temple-goer and certainly no mosques or churches fall within my radar. But while on a road trip, a few months ago I was persuaded by friends to visit the dargah in Ajmer, I had to admit I had this tremendous sense of calm when I came out,” recounts iconoclast Rajesh.
The calm was shattered on 11th October, on the eve of Ramzan Eid, the holiest period for Muslims. Yet again a holy place was used for target practice by faceless terrorists. This time it was the abode of India’s most revered Sufi saint.
Abd dal-Malik Isami, the 14th century Bahamani court poet had observed : “In every country there is a man of piety who keeps it going and well. Although there might be a monarch in every country, yet it is actually under the protection of a fakir (sufi saint).”
While the multitudes of this world are caught up in the senseless battle of “my God versus your God” at least let the Sufi saints rest in peace, they preached tolerance, acceptance and celebration of all religions at a time when secularism was not even a concept!
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