Back Story | The Hijras of Ajmer

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"My name is Maria...No, it's Anoushka".

The Urs anniversary of the revered Sufi saint Moin'Uddin Chisti attracts thousands of devotees and pilgrims from the four corners of South Asia, including Pakistan and Bangladesh...and whilst most are of the Muslim faith, there are significant numbers of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and members of other religious traditions who visit the shrine during this fascinating event.

As with most religious festivals in India (and everywhere), the pilgrims to the Urs in Ajmer rub shoulders with a healthy share of charlatans, scam artists, beggars, pickpockets and other shady characters.

However, amongst the most interesting visitors attending the latter part of the event are the hijras. The hijras are India's transgendered who have a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, and are now a recognized political force in the country, assiduously courted by politicians come election time. It's an elusive subculture, involving cross-dressing and often-castrated figures.

On the penultimate night of the Urs, after experiencing the rather shocking experience of being robbed on my iPhone (and having it returned a few moments after I manhandled the presumed thief), I was in for another surprise. Walking within the confines of the shrine, Shuchi Kapoor connected with a group of these hijras who had wandered in to presumably take the sights. In fact, the hijras were the sights, as they were gawked at, stared at, photographed with cellphones, by masses of male pilgrims...some with lust in their eyes, others with bewilderment and the rest with amusement.

After a few moments of pleasantries, we were invited to their hotel room overlooking the main street leading to the shrine. A bare room, with no beds that I could see...dangling fluorescent lights, and wide open windows allowing the hijras to smile and wave to the throngs of people walking below. It reminded me of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans when young (and usually drunk) women bare their breasts and throw beads at spectators from balconies.

Spending about an hour amongst the hijras in such an ambiance wasn't particularly conducive to an intelligent dialogue, especially when I asked one of the hijras for her name, and she wasn't too sure what it was for that evening.  When another asked me if I found her interesting, I managed to evade the trap by replying that I was interested in everything.

What is interesting though is that the hijras were occupying the same 'hotels' lining the main street that the nautch (dancing) girls originally lived in during the times of the festival in the past centuries.

Anne-Marie Bernier | Lover of the Poor

Here's the very first audio slideshow of the annual Urs Festival commemorating the death of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti as produced by Anne-Marie Bernier, a photographer and one of the group members in my just completed Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop. 

It captures with complete realism the religious event which some 700,000 pilgrims are said to have attended earlier this month. Moinuddin Hasan Chishti is the most revered Sufi saint in South Asia, and for good reasons. He was reputed to have been a liberal religious figure, with numerous devotees amongst Muslims (Sunni and Shi'a), Hindus, Sikhs and others who consider his brand of Sufism and universal acceptance of all creeds as ideal.

Anne-Marie chose the title of her audio slideshow very well, as it was inspired by an interview given by one of the devotees at the festival. You can also see it on Vimeo.

Aside photography, Anne-Marie teaches at a university in Canada, and has traveled far and wide internationally. She spent weeks in Ethiopia, photographing the country from top to bottom, as well as Cuba, Namibia, Mexico, Iceland, and others.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop: The Verdict

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

That was the line that came to my mind the most frequently during my two weeks Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop...and I had to remind some of the group members of it as well.

In comparison to the 10 days or so spent in Ajmer attending the death commemoration of the Sufi Saint Moin'Uddin Chisti (aka Nawaz Gharib), the initial days of the workshop were spent in Srinagar; the capital of Kashmir, and the experience was virtually placid. The group interacted with and photographed people of all walks of life during the walk-abouts the streets and alleys of the city, during the visits to the shrines and mosques, and with about everyone...from the shikara boatsmen to the flower vendors and even the elderly religious clerics who wanted to salvage our souls. I can confirm that the Kashmiri people are amongst the nicest and most hospitable people I've ever met...and if you haven't been already, just go. 

Seven of the group stayed in the stellar luxury of the Sukhoon houseboat (a truly magnificent houseboat which only had 5 bedrooms), while I and another group member stayed in another nearby houseboat...far from having the same quality of accommodation as the brand new sleek Sukhoon. I imagine Onassis' yachts would be of the same luxurious standard.

Traveling on Indian Railways from Delhi to Ajmer was a cinch, and was a pleasant experience...albeit one that took 6 hours to complete. I was looking forward to settle in the luxurious setting of the Ananta Resort near Ajmer, but was shocked to find it didn't have rooms for us because it had accepted the booking of an Indian wedding with literally hundreds of guests, and we had been moved to the Pushkar Resorts...an oasis of calm within 15 minuted drive. Having vented my spleen with the choicest of epithets directed at the Ananta management, I bowed to the inevitable and we moved to the Pushkar Resorts (in retrospect, a much better choice) for a few days until the wedding ended. We did get complimentary meals as compensation, which soothed our feelings a little. In case you seek hotel accommodations near Pushkar, do not go to the Ananta...it's more of a convention center and principally caters to noisy Indian weddings. 

As for the photographic experience during the Urs (Moin'Uddin's commemoration), it was mixed. Mixed not because of the lack of incredible subjects, but because of there being too many, and after a day or two, our eyes got used to them...and we became blase. We became understandably more choosy in what and who we photographed, and the buzz and the novelty decreased. That is the main difficulty in attending and photographing such events...after a while, it becomes repetitive and it becomes a struggle to find "new" angles.

The first few days at the Urs were enjoyable and full of  photo opportunities that most of hadn't ever seen.  The fakirs and the Sufi ascetics (the real and fake), the charlatans, the flag-waving pankiwallahs,  some maimed and others healthy...the vagabond self mutilating malangs, the venal khadims squeezing every paisa from the poor and gullible, the eye-popping rituals...some based on Hinduism, Buddhism and even on paganism,  the disturbing self-induced trances by mostly schizophrenic women and their attempts to exorcise jinns, the disparity between Sunni and Shi'a Islamic traditions, the welcoming kindness of pilgrims towards foreign visitors, and our being interviewed on Indian national television all made for exhilarating initial days.

I was thrilled my choice of Tahoor Chisti ( a khadim and descendant of the Saint) as a facilitator for the event proved to be extraordinarily fortuitous. He was instrumental in procuring camera permits for us, got us replacements when we need them...and was the go-to-man whenever we needed to. A dignified and an extremely affable and helpful young man...and certainly an asset to our photo workshop. Shuchi Kapoor, a freelance photographer and writer, who joined the workshop in Ajmer as my assistant, is also to be commended for her help and skills.

One of the highlights of the Urs was having our very own guelaf (a large velvet sheet embroidered with verses from the Qur'an) which we placed on the saint's marble tomb, along with a basket of sweet-scented roses. Doing so exposed us to the most chaotic part of the event since we shared the tight space with hundreds of other pilgrims/supplicants; some of whom gripped with a religious frenzy.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the failed attempt of my being being pick-pocketed. Surrounded by a mass of pilgrims, and sensing my iPhone had been lifted from my pocket,   I grabbed the nearest man next to me...shook him out of his wits and yelled "thief" at the top of my lungs.  A policeman swiftly grabbed the fellow and as if by magic, my iPhone was returned by some other guy claiming it had fallen from my pocket! Another highlight was to meet a bunch of transgendered hijras in their rooms overlooking the main street in Ajmer.

What would I do if I had to repeat the workshop? Well, I'd extend the Srinagar part of it for a couple of days  and attend the first half of the Urs...and skip its latter part with its claustrophobic-inducing crowds.              

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop: Sacred & Profane

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Islam is monolithic...Islam is homogeneous...Islam speaks with one voice... and so goes on the nonsense we get from our media.

I wish the so-called pundits who speak of Islam's homogeneity with such authority would have been with me at the commemoration of Moin'Uddin Chisti's death anniversary in Ajmer (India).  

One of the largest Muslim religious gathering in the world; following the Haj in Mecca and the Biswa Ijtema in Bangladesh, the Ajmer Urs gathered approximately 700,000 pilgrims of various religious denominations over a few days.

Muslims (Shi'a and Sunni...Sufis and non Sufis), Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and non-believers congregated to pay homage to the most important Sufi saint of South Asia.

Circumambulating the shrine, throwing fragrant roses on the saint's tomb, tying orange ribbons on its jalis, women shrieking in their trances, vagabonds cracking whips and popping their eyeballs, vagrants and fakirs drawing deeply on their opium-laced chillums, and the transgender hijras taunting and teasing the pilgrims from balconies....yes, all very "Islamic" indeed.

Faith is what you make of it...not what others tell you it is.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | A Thought

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy. All Rights Reserved

Many Western pundits, talking heads and the like believe that Islam is more or less homogeneous and is monolithic...but nothing is further from the truth.

It's not my intention of going into details in this post, but the wide difference between the devotional expression of faith in Srinagar's various Sufi dargahs and at Moin'Uddin Chisti's Ajmer shrine could not have been more dissimilar.

In Srinagar, the devotees were calmer, more introspective, and more contemplative than their brethren during the Urs commemoration of Moin'Uddin's death in Ajmer. The latter expressed devotion to their faith in a very muscular fashion, noisily and did so unashamedly.

Granted, the Ajmer event was a huge religious event, and is hyped to encourage such manifestations of faith...the more the better kind of thing, while in Srinagar there was no special religious event.

It would be interesting to return to Srinagar during the public viewing of the Prophet Mohammed's relic at the Hazratbal shrine. I was told that it rivals the Ajmer Urs in its intensity.

I'm still editing and refining my photo essay of the Moin' Uddin's festival, but it will certainly include my views of the sacred and the profane from the event.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | Back In Delhi

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Comfortably ensconced in a lovely room at the New Delhi's Claridges Hotel, raising my feet up and watching utter drivel of the television, while hoping for my nasty viral/bronchial infection to resolve itself, I decide to write this post in a rare moment of un-fevered lucidity.

What to write about the experience of photographing at the annual observance of the Sufi Saint Moin'Uddin Chisti's death...except to say that it was mind-blowing. Some parts of it were staid and commonplace such as the times of prayers (called namaz in India and South Asia), while others caused my jaw to drop almost to ground level. The all too short theatrical entrance of the malang, a group of very unusual characters, who crack whips and pop their eyeballs from their sockets to scare the bejesus out of people, was one of these extraordinary sights.

I intend to write more at length on the whole of the Sufi Saints Photo Workshop at a later stage, but I must say it was a uniquely memorable experience, even for someone like me who has seen and photographed weird stuff like that for quite a while.

My multimedia production of the Urs is almost ready, and subject to some fine tuning, will be made public in a few days.

I met a number of characters who were at the Nizam Uddin dargah in Delhi before the start of our workshop,  such as Bilal the pankiwallah, Junnaid the black-clothed fakir, and of course the awesome malang (below) with the unique style sense. Sadly, I didn't come across the latter, although some in my group photographed him in Ajmer.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved.

I have to thank Tahoor Chisti, a young khadim and a descendant of Moin'Uddin Chisti who was the epitome of grace and hospitality during our visits to the dargah, and made it possible for all of us to obtain photo permits that are normally only available to the media/press.

My thanks also to Shuchi Kapoor who assisted me on this workshop, making it much easier in so many respects, as well as introducing me to a group of hijras in Ajmer. I hope she gained some insight from this workshop that will help her progress in her career.

I should also mention the thrilling event of my iPhone being pickpocketed by a rather muscular thief,  and I shaking it loose off him without regards to my personal safety.

My lucidity is now waning...so it's best to close this post now.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | Srinagar Two

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

It's with considerable regret that our group is about to leave Srinagar and its wonderful people today. I (and I speak for all the group) had a memorable experience interacting with people of all walks of life during our walk-abouts the streets and alleys of the city, during our visits to the innumerable shrines and mosques, and with about everyone who dealt with us...from the shikara boatsmen to the flower vendors (who were a little too persistent but did it with grace and humor).

There's no question that our main houseboat "Sukoon" was a 5-star experience, and we were glad to be in the hands of Aftab and his team who catered to our every whim. We enjoyed the very able assistance of Nizar Malik; who knew Sufism and Islam inside out, and who offered his personal perspective of these ways of life and faith...particularly as these relate to Kashmir.

As I write this, and as we have a few hours before our flight to Delhi, the workshop participants are putting together their inaugural multimedia slideshows. I asked for these to be simple and quick...and the exercise will test their storytelling talents, and ability to weave together a project under time pressure.

I had the good fortune to have met Aziz Ahmed, a unani (traditional medicine) practitioner, who introduced me to his dying craft. Most of his sales are now in rose water used in rituals at the nearby Shaikh Hamdan mosque. Notwithstanding, his small dingy shop has been standing for no less than 3 or 4 generations, and still has a wonderful array of antique bottles and jars; some glass others in ceramic, imported for England during the Raj.

I was also immensely pleased to reconnect with Yasin Dar, the photojournalist with AP, with whom I reminisced about the Manali Foundry Photojournalism Workshop.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | Srinagar

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

Srinagar is different from anywhere I've been to in India. Whilst there's Indian army presence in some of the streets, we haven't experienced any road blocks or inconveniences. The food is just spectacular (I had some of the best lamb kebab for lunch today...even better than Karim's in Delhi!), and while I would have preferred warmer nights, the days have been comfortable.

I think the standout event today occurred when we went to the Hazratbal Shrine in the morning, and came across a praying woman in this holy site, who was sobbing silently in a corner of the mosque. Eventually, she beckoned me over and was surrounded by the members of our group including Nizar, our Srinagar guide. It transpired that Misra had come to the sacred shrine from her home 60 kilometers away just to pray, clutching her tattered Qur'an, and pleased to have met us. She recited and sang a soft and delicate poem in her native Kashmiri who sounded to me like Turkish.

We also spent quite a while at the shrine of Sheikh Hamza Makhdum, or Makhdoom Sahib, Mehboob-ul-Alam and Sultan-Ul-Arifeen. It is one of the most sacred shrines in Kashmir. (Above photograph)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

  We ended the day at the Khanqah mosque, known as the Shah Hamdan Masjid, near the river Jhelum. It was built in 1395 by Shah Sikandar to commemorate the visit of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani, better known as Shah Hamdan. Fire claimed the mosque several times in the following centuries and the current structure, as seen today (except for the more recent cloisters), was sponsored by Abul Barkat Khan in 1732.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | Delhi Again

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I am envious of this fellow's ability to sleep so deeply in public...especially as the time zone difference and jet lag have taken their habitual toll on me.

Along with members of my group, Anne Marie Bernier and Rasha Yousif, as well as Kaushik Ghosh, I stopped at Chausath Kambha (Urdu for 64 Pillars), a tomb in Delhi, built by Mirza Aziz Koka. There was nothing much to see as it's being renovated, but I noticed the sleeping man totally unperturbed by the passerby.

More interestingly is the fact that the area is crowded with members of the Tabligh...Islamic missionaries who are of various nationalities, and who stay in a building near Nizzam Uddin dargah. Rather fierce-looking with flowing beards and white tunics, they mill around eating at the various kebab eateries that dot the neighborhood. They regard the dargah and its pilgrims -and Sufism in general- as heresy.

Sufi Saints Photo Workshop | Delhi

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved 

Despite a sleepless night flight from Heathrow to Delhi, I was sufficiently stoked to meet with Dr Kaushik Ghosh who accompanied me for an afternoon/early evening photo shoot at Nizaam Uddin dargah, where I saw a few familiar faces. The mujjawirs/khadims, essentially the caretakers of the shrine, were represented in force, and some of the punkawallahs who fan visiting pilgrims, cooling them in the rather sultry evening.

There was a qawwal performance, and one of two women who entered into trances in front of the saint's shrine. It being a Friday, the dargah was relatively crowded but not as much as I would've expected it to be.

The fakir in the above photograph carried a bunch of padlocks and chains in a can. When asked what they were for, the onlookers told us that they were 'playthings'. In reality, these are rented out to men or women who enter in violent trances, and are used to secure them to poles in order to prevent them from hurting themselves or others.

One or two of the workshop participants have already arrived, and most will be in Delhi by the end of today.

(Posted on Saturday May 4)