Posts Tagged ‘ haji ali ’

Questions?

I took this photograph on my recent photo-walk to Haji Ali Dargah. At that time time it was mostly out of curiosity and documenting but when I saw it on my laptop It gave birth to a lot of questions. Why people beg? Is it because they don’t have any other option? Or is it because they don’t want to work? Is it emotional blackmailing? Is it a business? I don’t know the answers of any of the above questions. There are not certain answers for anything but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think. A photograph must interact with its audience and this photograph did it for me.

What do you think about it? What do you feel on seeing this photograph?

Haji Ali Dargah

The Haji Ali Dargah (Urdu: حاجی علی درگاہ , Marathi: हाजी अली दर्गा, Hindi: हाजी अली दरगाह, Gujarati: હાજી અલી દરગાહ) is a mosque and dargah (tomb) located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the Southern part of Mumbai. Near the heart of the city proper, the dargah is one of the most recognisable landmarks of Mumbai.

As per the legends, surrounding his life, once the Saint saw a poor woman crying on the road, holding an empty vessel. He asked her what the problem was. She sobbed that her husband would thrash her since she had stumbled and accidentally spilled the oil she was carrying. He asked her to take him to the spot where she lost the oil. There, he jabbed a finger into the soil and the oil gushed out. The overjoyed woman filled up the vessel and went home.

Later, Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (R.A.) had a recurring – and disturbing – dream that he had injured Earth by his act. Full of remorse, he soon fell ill and directed his followers to cast the coffin carrying his body into the Arabian Sea, once he died. Haji Ali left this world during his journey to Mecca and miraculously the casket carrying his body, floated back to these shores, getting stuck in the string of rocky islets just off the shore of Worli. Thus, the Dargah was constructed there.

The Dargah Sharief is built on a tiny islet located 500 meters from the coast, in the middle of Worli Bay, in the vicinity of Worli. The edifice is a brilliant specimen of the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. The islet is linked to the city precinct of Mahalakshmi by a narrow causeway, which is nearly a kilometre (0.62 mile) long.

On Thursdays and Fridays, the shrine is visited by at least 40,000 pilgrims. Irrespective of faith and religion, people visit the ‘dargah’ to get the blessings of the legendary saint. Sometimes, especially on Fridays, people may find various sufi musicians performing a form of devotional music called Qawwali at the Dargah.

Along the causeway one can find small shops selling toys, bags, bangles and items which are offered at the dargah. Also one can find beggars sitting along.

49. Haji Ali Dargah

I went to Haji Ali Dargah yesterday. It is a mosque and dargah (tomb) located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the Southern part of Mumbai. There is a long way built on the sea just to visit the Dargah which is in the middle of the water. So, I decided to take a landscape view showing the path and the sea.

This is the trial shot, there were a lot of birds which gave me one more thing to play with.

So I played with the birds for some time.

I walked around the footpath to find out some more interesting view. And I noticed these railings on the side of the footpath which can be used to frame the Dargah.

So now there were three elements: Dargah, railings and birds

I played with the three elements for some time.

The final shot: the bird is right and the framing fits

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