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The
saint of this popular Dargah, Muntajib al-Din, known best by his epithet
Zar Zari Zar Baksh, is said to have come to this area of the Deccan
in the fourteenth century at the request of his teacher, Nizamuddin
Awliya of Delhi. |
Khuldabad sign |
Several
apocryphal stories are told about Muntajib al-Din to account for the
name, Zar Zari Zar Baksh, "the giver of the essence of gold",
but historical data notes simply that he was a practicing Sufi who often
retreated to a hill cave near the place where his tomb was eventually
built. |
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Carl
Ernst in his extensive study of the shrines of Khuldabad, The Eternal
Garden, says about Muntajib al-Din (p. 235): "Although his connection
with the Chishti tradition is beyond doubt, the lack of any contemporary
account leaves him [Muntajib al-Din] in the fog of legend, forever beyond
the grasp of our knowledge." |
However
the widespread stories of prayers answered at this tomb have made the
Dargah of Zar Zari Zar Baksh an important pilgrimage sites for Sufis
in the Deccan and other parts of India. According to the managers of
the Dargah, people have come from other Muslim countries to this shrine. |
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The
Zar Zari Zar Baksh Dargah [Sufi Shrine] in Khuldabad attracts hundreds
of pilgrims each year for ordinary rituals such as seeking the blessings
of praying at a holy place. But this Dargah draws people from long distances
for more specific purposes too. Thousands of pilgrims travel to the
Zar Zari Zar Baksh Dargah for the urs or death anniversary of the saint,
immediately followed by the commemoration of the death of the Prophet
Muhammad. |
According
to several administrators of the Dargah, three to four lakhs of people
(300,000-400,000) participate in these celebrations.
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Dargah Cloth Seller |
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 Dargah Flowerseller January |
Dargah Flowerseller |
Boys at Dargah:Sayeed and Friends |
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Dargah Inner Courtyard |
Walking
up the steps and through the archway entrance to the dargah, one enters
the courtyard leading to another set of steps and arched doorway. Once
inside that doorway, one is face to face with the tomb of the saint,
Zar Zari Zar Baksh. Behind the saint's tomb, is the tomb of his mother. |
Tomb Shrine |
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Tomb of Mother of Zar Zari Zar Baksh |
Women with Petitions |
However,
most pilgrims to the Zar Zari Zar Baksh Dargah travel to seek the help
of this saint and his mother in conceiving a child or finding a husband.
Though women are not allowed inside the small room that houses the tomb,
they stand or sit just outside the doorway praying for the saint's blessing.
A man from the Dargah indicates this blessing by tapping them quickly
on their heads and shoulders with a small bunch of peacock feathers. |
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As
a sign of their petition, the women tie a small thread or a glass bangle,
often green, above the doorway to the tomb. The women also tie a thread
on their own wrists for a month and 7 days. |
If
they conceive within this time, they promise to return with the child
to the Dargah before the child reaches the age of five years to give
thanks in a traditional child
weighing ritual. |
Offering Bangles at Shrine of Saint's Mother |
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Dargah Mosque |
Within the innermost courtyard of the dargah, to the side of the tombs, is a mosque where anyone visiting the dargah prays when the muezzin sings the call to prayer. Although women might be visiting the dargah, only men were observed performing the prayer ritual at this mosque.
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Dargah Mosque Mehrab |
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Verse from the Quran Facing the Tomb of the Saint |
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 Mark in conversations with Ahmad Bhai, administrator of dargah, about the practice of Sufi devotional singing, qawwali, in Islam and, more particularly, in Khuldabad. |
Dargah Zar Zari Zar Baksh |
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