By Tripti Lahiri, *Nizamuddin Basti Puts Out Welcome Mat* - The Wall Street Journal - New York, NY, USA; Saturday, December 18, 2010Lots of Delhi residents and foreigners already know this centrally located neighborhood – or at least the shrine in the middle of it – because of the qawwali devotional music at sunset at the mausoleum of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya.
But this year the neighborhood has been home to many more cultural events at other historic spots, including a Sufi music festival, storytelling nights and this weekend, starting Sunday, is the first street festival.
The organization that is carrying out restoration work and trying to improve living conditions in the area hopes that through these events more people in Delhi can appreciate and help preserve the heritage and plural traditions of this unusual neighborhood—including the people who live in and around the basti.
“It’s got one of the highest densities of medieval Islamic buildings anywhere in the world. There are over 100 monuments,” said Ratish Nanda, who is head of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in India. “Nizamuddin is well known for its spirit of pluralism. It’s got 700 years of living culture—it’s not only bricks and mortar, it’s Amir Khusro and Ghalib and qawwali.”
Khusro was a medieval Sufi poet, while Ghalib was a 19th century Urdu poet. Sufism is a mystic strain of Islam, and Sufi saints are often revered by people of several faiths in India.
The culture trust is part of the development agency of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims. The agency has a “historic cities” program to develop and conserve public spaces of cultural significance. The trust has already carried out restoration works on the gardens of Humayun’s tomb, part or the larger Nizamuddin historical area, that includes a plant nursery that still functions.
The area is bifurcated into two main residential areas, one to the east around the tomb that is a wealthy area, and the one to the west, where the shrine is, which is more congested and poorer.
Work in the neighborhood began in 2007, and includes efforts to improve sanitation, schooling and parks here. Mr. Nanda said enrollment in the government primary school had gone up fourfold since then.
The previous weekend already saw two evenings of storytelling in Urdu at the Chausath Khamba (64 Pillars) monument, next door to the Nizamuddin shrine and home to several graves.
The events this Sunday and Monday highlight food and crafts as well, with a street festival in a park, while young people from the neighborhood will lead walks on the built heritage and culture of the area.
“There is so much oral history in the basti (neighborhood) that we hope the youth will pick up and and bring back the culture that once prevailed here,” said Mr. Nanda.
The street festival is on Dec. 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Barat Ghar Park, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. Heritage walks last 1.5 hours and depart on both days at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. from the Shiv Mandir. For more information about the events on Sunday and Monday, please call +91-11-4371-7791
Picture: Nizamuddin Basti - a neighborhood famous for the mausoleum of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya is having its cultural renaissance. Photo: AFP/Getty Images
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The Basti of Hazrat Nizammudin Auliya is also home to The Hope Project, an east-west collaboration formed and financed by western followers of Hazrat Inayat Kahn, who brought Sufism to the west in the early 20th century. His own dargah is nearby. The Hope Project provides a clinic and food program for the neighborhood, as well as a school which emphasizes providing education and work opportunities for girls and women in the basti.
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