Delhi-based photographer Shivani Dass’ abiding interest in Sufism has
taken her to nine important Sufi shrines across the country.
Besides paying her respects at the shrines, this 28-year-old, who has
been pursuing photography for the past four years, has managed to
capture 1,000 colour pictures to highlight the secular character of the
shrines.
Since she could not show all her images at one exhibition, she has
shortlisted 28 images, each of which has been put on display at a solo
exhibition at Alliance Francaise de Delhi and has an interesting new
story to tell.
Titled “Violet Dreams”, the exhibition capturing different facets of Sufism was inaugurated last weekend and ends today.
Shedding light on how her interest in Sufism developed, Shivani says her
closest friend Anamika often took her to the famous Hazrat Nizamuddin
Dargarh. “I used to observe that people from different religious
denominations visited and prayed at the shrine. Their faith in Sufism
was heartening. What I best liked about Sufism is that it does not
prevent anyone from paying homage at dargahs which embrace everyone with
open arms. This created a lot of interest about Sufism in me. I have
always been intrigued by its mystical ways and wanted to provide a
visual language to the quest for this path.”
The shrines Shivani visited included Khwaja Moinuddin Chisthi’s Dargah
in Ajmer, Dargah Hazrat Tawakkal Mastan in Bangalore, Yousufain
Sharifain in Hyderabad, Nagore Dargah in Tamil Nadu and Delhi dargahs of
Hazrat Nizamuddin and Matka Pir.
The photographs capture different moods of the believers and ignored
corners of Sufi shrines. “There was so much going on in each place that I
visited. People were healed at Mira Datar’s Dargah in Gujarat and at
Nagore Dargah in Tamil Nadu when I went there during Urs. But I did not
want to capture the obvious imagery of suffering and joy. I wanted to
look at the in between pauses when nothing is really happening, yet a
great deal is,” Shivani says.
Shivani’s favourite pictures include one of a girl whose face is turned
away from the camera. She is one of three sisters at Mira Datar’s Dargah
who was disillusioned as her father sat outside complaining about the
loss of their only son who died during the Bhopal gas tragedy.
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1 comment:
I have visited all the sufi shrines in India. The nagore dargha in tamil nadu belongs to qadaria silsila. I stayed there for 2 years as i was suffering from bipolar disorder. The dargha belongs to syed Shahul Hamid also called Abdul qadir. He is king of sub-consious mind.
I dont want to disclose my identity, and he gave knowledge about god and sprirtuality, is of great magnitude. He taught me what is God, the universe, the soul or nafs and the sprit.
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