Journey to the Sufi Shrines of Gujarat, book review

Book Review of In Search of Faith Unconquered: A journey in three acts (Sept. 24, 2005) by Anhad, anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.in

Two young travellers look for hope in ravaged Gujarat. They find it in the sublime silences of spiritual unity which still celebrate healing and love. Text by Manasa Patnam. Pictures by Sahir Raza

The Inspiration: Kabir deeply influenced the Sufi-Bhakti tradition in Gujarat I delve into the nuances of the ‘act of entrance’ as I stand facing the archway of the fort that led into the dargah of Mira Datar. In architectural terms, an act of entrance is a way of conceiving the entire image of the main structure by merely looking at the exterior through its entrance. It is the expectant notion that conjures up visions of splendour, opulence, and architectural richness. But the image also deceives you. You might, by the mere act of proceeding further, discover that the real picture is actually quite different from what was imagined two paces back.Quite predictably, my ‘act of entrance’, my personal archway into the world of Sufism, is narrow to say the least. Metropolitan existence imposes its own set of stereotypes. Think Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or Abida Parveen. Maybe mystics hanging upside down, practising severe penance. The dargahs, I always thought, are shrines people visited during the Urs. Most importantly, Sufis had to be Muslims and Sufism was an Islamic sect, a sort of religion. Even to me, such notions are becoming false. Almost unconsciously, I plan this journey also to discard my urban baggage and embrace reality, if I can.This is our journey to identify and understand a culture, a culture independent of others, transcending, and rebelling against established orders, shunning religions, and seeking truth. Journeys are difficult to predict and those that aim to seek are even more abstract. A fulfilling journey, I would say, is such that it continues to resonate and haunt even after it is over.
Shah Alam DargahAhmedabadImpressions of another Sufi, Richard F. Burton, keep lingering. He was the quintessential outsider, forbidden to enter the holy city of Mecca. As the city was preserved only for the followers of Mohammed, Burton entered the city disguised as a Muslim. In his account of the holy city, he exclaims:“I may truly say that, of all worshippers who clung weeping to the curtain, or who pressed their beating hearts to the stone, none felt for the moment a deeper emotion than did the Haji from the far north… But to confess humbling truth, theirs was the high feeling of religious enthusiasm, mine was the ecstasy of gratified pride.”Somewhere in the beginning of the journey itself, I realised that the quest for the Sufi is really the quest of the self. So, shaking my head clear of established notions I prepared to enter the shrine of Mira Data.The dargah is situated at Unawa village, Mehsana district, Gujarat. It is enclosed within a fort-like structure and is believed to be more than 300 years old. The dargah contains the shrine of Syed Ali, who, due to his miraculous powers of healing, came to be known as Mira Data (the brave altruist). We are given a guided tour by one of the khadims of the dargah. The khadims are usually descendants from the family of the saint who first undertook responsibilities of maintaining and running the day-to-day business of the shrine.
SarkhejAhmedabadAt first sight, the dargah radiates the usual chaotic synergy of thousands of devotees, mystics and visitors. But as we are led inside, we notice how unique the shrine is. From the entrance an alleyway leads into a chamber where ‘devils’ and ‘djinns’ can be exorcised by cleansing oneself. The chamber contains a small body of water. The idea is so far-fetched that I barely notice other, even more peculiar images. Slowly I notice a number of women wading through the water mouthing obscenities. In the hallucinatory haze created by the myth about the place, the incongruousness of the women screaming obscenities, everything seems like a constructed image…Make thy mind thy kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple Conscience its prime teacher Then, O Priest, call me to pray to that mosque Which hath ten gates Sacrifice, wrath, doubt and malice Make patience thine utterance of the five prayers, The Hindus and Musalmans have the same Lord;What can the Mulla, what can the Shaikh do for man?
They say that when a neighbouring sultan visited Benares, the king of the city, who was an admirer of the poet Kabir, asked him to come and meet the sultan. To the shock of all present, Kabir, rather than bowing before the sultan and the king of Benares, merely offered a common greeting no different than he would to any man. When asked to explain his behaviour, Kabir said the only king in the world was God. “Within the Hindu and the Muslim,” he added, “dwells the same God.”
Siddhi Sayed Mosque AhmedabadSuch was the following of Kabir, both Hindus and Muslims tried to appropriate his legacy. Ironically, Kabir, during his lifetime, having pioneered the Bhakti movement, renounced both religions and openly attacked the monopoly of established religions. There are several legends in Gujarat about Kabir’s parentage. Some say that he was the illegitimate son of a Hindu widow. To save herself from public slander, the widow left the baby near a pond. A Muslim weaver called Ali (popularly known as Niru) spotted the baby and adopted it. Some writers dismiss this story as an obvious invention, an attempt to associate Kabir to a Hindu family.The year of his birth is vaguely approximated to be 1425 ad. Around the same time emerged the Bhakti movement sweeping vast regions of northern India. The movement waged an unending war against orthodoxy and meaningless ritualism. The Bhaktas who spearheaded the movement came from all classes of Hindu society. Kabir was one of its earliest known proponents in medieval India. The Sufis considered Kabir to be a muwahhid, a man whose main concern is good action.
Born of a low, but skilled caste between the two worlds of Hindus and Muslims, Kabir understood life. “I do not quote from the scriptures,” he wrote. “I simply see what I see.” It is said that he invented his own caste — a caste below all others. Kabir rejected the outward show of the sadhus, ascetics, all ‘godmen’ around him, whom he described as “the thugs of Benares”. He criticised ritualism and priest craft, refusing and denouncing hypocrisy, falsehood and deceitfulness in religions and social ethics. Devotion, penance, austerity, fasting and ablutions were meaningless to him. In one of his hymns, Kabir tells Brahmans and mullas alike that they should not condemn each other’s religious texts as false:
Shahi Bagh Dargah Ahmedabad
Hazrat Wajihuddin DargahAhmedabad
Sarkhej AhmedabadThe Musalmans accept the Tariqat The Hindus, the Vedas and Purans But for me the books of both religions are useless…We arrive at Haji Pir, driving through the cold Kutch desert in the early hours of the morning. Seen in the morning light, the dargah of Haji Pir emerges as a sublime experience. It stands out as a white bastion in the middle of vast expanses of sand. Made entirely of white marble, it displays Central Asian architectural influences.
Located unassumingly at Naragam in the Banni area of Nakhatrana taluka of Kutch district, the dargah of Pir Syed Hazi Ali Akbar too is home to people of diverse faiths and culture. This shrine belongs to the same lineage as the dargah of Haji Pir in Mumbai. Inside the dargah, almost in front of the chamber containing the tomb, is a Jar tree, which supposedly protects the tomb and wards off evil influences.
Jain Temple PavagadhHaji Pir is an important shrine strategically and culturally. Being close to the border between India and Pakistan, this shrine attracts devotees from Pakistan. Haji Pir has tremendous following among people of all religions. They say that whoever donates towards the construction, expansion and repair of the dargah, multiplies his own wealth. There are several such stories of devotees and donors to the dargah having become richer after the donation. Musabhai Dadubhai, a Hindu from Mandvi village in Kutch, is said to have become immensely wealthy after donating money and praying at the shrine of Haji Pir. Arvind Morarji Vanya, a Jain businessman from Mumbai, got a wall of the dargah constructed ten years back and gained extraordinary wealth. Significantly, several devotees here offer coconuts at the mazar, a tradition normally observed in Hindu temples.There is a pond next to the shrine, the appearance of which is attributed to the miraculous powers of Haji Pir. On his arrival in Kutch, he was obstructed by the local Rajputs (Solanki caste leaders). But Haji Pir won them over along with the common people by developing a water body in the middle of the desert. It provided relief to the drought-stricken Kutch. People still believe that the mud at the water-bed has healing properties and it is used to cure many illnesses. The pond is called ‘Sadharna’ as it was dug by a hundred Rajput soldiers…Manasa has graduated from Miranda House and Sahir is a student at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. They have composed a beautiful book on the syncretic traditions of Gujarat: In Search of Faith Unconquered: A Journey in Three Acts,
Anhad, anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.in

published in Tehelka: The People's Paper (click on the title for the original)