Pranav Khullar
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As the Sufi call to the
Beloved reached its crescendo the entire complex of Qutubuddin
Bakhtiar Kaki's dargah seemed suffused with the mystical sound of the
qawwali. You are being invited to experience another dimension, where
the mind merges with the Ruh, the Soul, and the humdrum of everyday
existence is forgotten in that ecstatic moment. Unsurprisingly ,
this dargah complex at Mehrauli has become the focal point of a unique
interfaith festival of floral offerings, the Sair-e-Gul Faroshan,
popularly known as the Phoolwalon-ki-Sair.
The qawwali seems to reverberate the composite strands of our cultural mosaic a remarkable sufi-yogic syncretism which lies at the core of our being, and which was triggered off by the Khwaja at Ajmer and Bakhtiar Kaki at Delhi. Islam's mystical flavour is heightened in the musical outpouring of verses written in the vernacular by Sufi saints.
This festival of flowers, in the great tradition of bonding of communities, revivifies the spirit as each participant joins in the procession to offer flowers and pankhas or fans at the dargah of Qutu buddin Bakhtiar Kaki and the ancient adjoining temple of Yogmaya at the Mehrauli complex.
Tradition has it that Akbar Shah II's queen had vowed to offer a chadar and flowers at the dargah and a pankha at the Yogmaya Mandir, if her wish for the safe return of her son Mirza Jehangir from his exile at Allahabad was fulfilled. Not only did the wish come true but the incident flagged off the festival of floral offer ings at the dargah and temple every year.
The call of the Sufi is the mystical emotional outpouring of the heart which reaches out to the Self in its compassion.
Yogmaya Temple is believed to date back to the Mahabharata, that recounts the story of Yog maya, infant sister of Krishna reincarnation of the Mother Goddess who escapes Kansa in Mathura, and predicts his doom at the hands of the eighth born of Devaki in an akashvani before dis appearing into the ether.
Since the site is believed to be spiritually charged, the Mehrauli temple complex has hosted the sadhana or meditation of many a yogi and faqir.
It is said that a Sufi is one who possesses nothing and nothing pos sesses him except the name of God and service of humanity . It is this spirit of complete surrender and simplicity which endears the Sufi to one and all, especially the commoner, and it is this spirit which gets embodied in such interfaith bonding festivals.
This festival of flowers and floral tributes, the Phoolwalon-ki-Sair, spreads the message of spiritual bonding and brotherhood even today , through the fragrance of its offerings.It is like those few still points of the turning world to which all of us go back to, to remind ourselves of our common heritage, and revive our inner spiritual core, through festivities and music.
Phoolwalon-ki-Sair is a reminder to dissolve our differences and know that each belongs to the other, and one would be empty and bereft without the other.
Courtesy: The Times of India, October 18, 2014
The qawwali seems to reverberate the composite strands of our cultural mosaic a remarkable sufi-yogic syncretism which lies at the core of our being, and which was triggered off by the Khwaja at Ajmer and Bakhtiar Kaki at Delhi. Islam's mystical flavour is heightened in the musical outpouring of verses written in the vernacular by Sufi saints.
This festival of flowers, in the great tradition of bonding of communities, revivifies the spirit as each participant joins in the procession to offer flowers and pankhas or fans at the dargah of Qutu buddin Bakhtiar Kaki and the ancient adjoining temple of Yogmaya at the Mehrauli complex.
Tradition has it that Akbar Shah II's queen had vowed to offer a chadar and flowers at the dargah and a pankha at the Yogmaya Mandir, if her wish for the safe return of her son Mirza Jehangir from his exile at Allahabad was fulfilled. Not only did the wish come true but the incident flagged off the festival of floral offer ings at the dargah and temple every year.
The call of the Sufi is the mystical emotional outpouring of the heart which reaches out to the Self in its compassion.
Yogmaya Temple is believed to date back to the Mahabharata, that recounts the story of Yog maya, infant sister of Krishna reincarnation of the Mother Goddess who escapes Kansa in Mathura, and predicts his doom at the hands of the eighth born of Devaki in an akashvani before dis appearing into the ether.
Since the site is believed to be spiritually charged, the Mehrauli temple complex has hosted the sadhana or meditation of many a yogi and faqir.
It is said that a Sufi is one who possesses nothing and nothing pos sesses him except the name of God and service of humanity . It is this spirit of complete surrender and simplicity which endears the Sufi to one and all, especially the commoner, and it is this spirit which gets embodied in such interfaith bonding festivals.
This festival of flowers and floral tributes, the Phoolwalon-ki-Sair, spreads the message of spiritual bonding and brotherhood even today , through the fragrance of its offerings.It is like those few still points of the turning world to which all of us go back to, to remind ourselves of our common heritage, and revive our inner spiritual core, through festivities and music.
Phoolwalon-ki-Sair is a reminder to dissolve our differences and know that each belongs to the other, and one would be empty and bereft without the other.
Courtesy: The Times of India, October 18, 2014
