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Walking the Mystic Alleys A short guide to the dargah Nizamuddin area at Delhi Yousuf Saeed
One enters the dargah Nizamuddin area from New Delhi’s Mathura Road and finds a distinctly medieval ambience: labyrinthine alleys, crowds of beggars and street-vendors, bazaars with cheap eateries hawking kababs and other delicacies, people selling caps, rosaries, religious posters, and so on. One of the lanes on the left leads to the well-known Mughlai restaurant Dastarkhwan-e-Kareem. Further ahead is the modern building of the Ghalib Academy, established to honour the 19th century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. It has a well-stocked library and museum, and an adjoining compound where Ghalib is buried. As the road narrows, you meet flower-sellers who lovingly pester you to buy a tray of flowers, sweets, or a chadur (cloth) to offer at the dargahs of Nizamuddin Aulia and Amir Khusrau. Before entering the dargah premises, you have to remove your shoes and preferably cover your head. A medieval archway leads to a verandah that faces the tomb of Amir Khusrau, customarily visited first. Here you will find many claiming to be the Sajjadah-nashins (keepers) of the mausoleum, requesting money for their blessings. The maintenance and upkeep of the dargah, including a daily langar (community meal) for the poor is run with the help of alms and offerings here.
Opposite the opening of Amir Khusrau's tomb there is a heavy wooden door leading to the Hujra-e-Qadeem (literally, the ancient room). Usually locked, except for the exclusive sama' (qawwali) gatherings of the Sufis, this room is claimed to have been constructed in the thirteenth/fourteenth century. A wall outside this room has a calligraphed poem in praise of Nizamuddin Aulia composed by the Urdu poet Allama Iqbal. Saqqe, or water-sellers, with their leather mashaqs (water bags) pester you to pay for the drinking water offered to devotees. From here Nizamuddin Aulia's grave is about ten yards to the north. Between the two tombs are situated a few more graves. Jehanara, the daughter of Shah Jehan, and Emperor Mohammad Shah lie buried here. Nizamuddin Aulia's tomb is followed by a courtyard -- the arena for the qawwali performances, and is always full of devotees. Towards the west is the high sandstone wall of the Jamaat-Khana (prayer hall), supposedly constructed by Feroz Shah Tughlaq a few years after Nizamuddin Aulia's death.
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