An 800-Year-Old Belief for Women

Hidden in the famous Adhchini market on Sri Aurobindo Marg, Delhi is a 800-year-old dargah, popularly known among the devotees as 'Mai Sahiba ki dargah'.

I happen to visit the Dargah with my colleagues earlier this month. The Mausoleum of Mai Sahiba, the mother of the 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya has a covered verandah, ornate silver doors and a mosque, which has a framed picture on the Mecca-facing wall. The dargah was decked with roses and qawwals offered prayers in a recital to mark the death anniversary of the great woman.

I read a lot about its great history - As the name suggests, it celebrates a mother. Mai Sahiba Bibi Zulekha was married to Khwaja Syed Ahmad. They had a daughter and a son. A few years after her husband's death, she moved to Delhi with her children. According to the stories, the family lived in great poverty and sometimes had nothing to eat for days. She passed away in 1250, long before her son became a great mystic. She was buried in her house.

Amongst a few shrines in the city where women enjoy the same rights as men, Mai Sahiba ki Dargah allows both men and women to pray in a same space! The shrine is visited by hundreds of devotees, especially women, following a belief that Mai Sahiba cannot bear the sorrow of women and bestows her blessings on them. Wednesdays are considered auspicious to seek wishes from Mai Sahiba.

Here are a few glimpses. I hope you like it -