The sweetness of a Sufi Spring

Basant or spring has always been welcomed by the people of Indian-subcontinent. In Chapter 10, Vibhuti Vistara Yoga or the Yoga of Manifestation, of the Gita, Krishna tells Arjun, “I am the spring among seasons”. One of the oldest literary references of the onset of spring is mentioned in the Kalidas’ Ritusamhāra in 5 century AD and then in Jaidev’s Geet Govindam in 12 century AD. These texts present the imagery of spring. Describing the onset of spring Kalidas writes in Ritusamhāra

“Drumaah sa pushpaah salilam sa padmam
Striyah sa kaamaah pavanah sugandhih

Sukhaa pradoshaah divasaah cha ramyaah
Sarvam priye caaru taram vasante.”

which is translated by Art Critic Veejay Sai as “Trees with fresh blossoms and waters filled with blooming lotuses,/ pleasant breezes loaded with their fragrances blow/ women in heat pine for union with their lovers,/ and thus the season of Spring arrives…”

People in north Indian’s have always celebrated the arrival of spring as it brought much-needed relief from the winter. Economically, it also signalled the start of the harvest season. In this season the farms of Punjab and other parts of north India the fields of mustards looked like gold. People celebrated this season by singing songs and offering mustard flowers to their gods.

Celebration of this Vasantotsav or Basant Panchmi was started by Hindus, but more than 700 years ago, Hazrat Amir Khusro, the courtier poet and disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin, the patron saint of Delhi, spread it among Muslims by celebrating it. Today both the communities celebrate it. Even in Pakistan, this festival is celebrated as Jashn-e-Bahara by flying kites.

There are various stories behind spreading of Vasantotsav from Hindu community to Muslim is very interesting. The dominant one is written by Ahmad Ayaz (also formerly known as Rajkumar Hardev), a thirteenth-century Prince of Deccan, architect and writer of Chahal Rosa, a diary on the life of Nizamuddin, in his diary. After the demise of Taqiuddin Nuh, Nizamuddin’s nephew and the declared successor of the Khanqah, in 1299 AD due to tuberculosis, went into the depression. Nizamuddin’s favourite disciple Amir Khusro and other disciples tried everything to make him laugh. One day Ayaz noticed a procession of Hindu villagers wearing yellow dresses, singing songs of spring and carrying mustard plants and flowers. When he inquired about it from the villagers he was told that they were going to offer it their deity Kalka devi’s temple to please her before the harvest. Suddenly he saw Amir Khusro coming with mustard flowers. When Ayaz asked Khusro about the flowers, Khusro told him that he is going to offer it to his peer (master) with the hope that it will lessen his grief and bring cheer.

Ayaz, Khusro, Syed Mohammad Imam and Syed Mohammad Musa went to search Nizamuddin in the Khanqah behind Humayun’s tomb, Nuh’s mazaar but found him at a mausoleum near Lal Mahal (no longer in existence). After seeing Nizamuddin Syed Mohammad Musa started dancing. When asked by Nizamuddin, Musa told him that Amir Khusro and all of us are here to offer you mustard flowers on the occasion of Basant Panchmi, a hindu festival closely related to harvest and transition of winter to summer. After listening to this, Nizamuddin smiled after long and said let us go to Nuh’s mazaar and offer it to him. After this incident, Basant panchmi is celebrated not only in Nizamuddin’s Dargah but in all the dargahs of Chishti order.

The less dominant but metaphorically equally powerful version is that one-day Khusro noticed villagers colouring their white turbans through mustard flowers and thought of adding colour to life. He took a mustard flower to his depressed peer and offered him who in turn realised that a life of Sufi is that of detachment. Interestingly, this realisation to Nizamuddin and his coming out of depression is closely associated with the worship of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge by the Hindus on this day.

According to Syed Mohammad Nizami, nephew of Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Sani Nizami, the present gaddi-nashin (spiritual head) of the dargah and caretaker, “Every year on the occasion of Basant Panchmi just after the sunset namaaz the procession is started from the location of the stone where Nizamuddin was sitting when Khusro and other disciples approached him. Today even though the stone isn’t there the procession starts from near it. Thereafter the procession goes to the mazaar of Taquiddin Nuh and then to Nizamuddin’s dargah.” All along the way Qawwals sing the Basant compositions like ‘Kaliyan sang karda rang raliya’; ‘Aaj basant mana le suhagan’; ‘Sagan ban phool rahi sarson’; ‘Aaj racho hai basant nizam ghar of Amir Khusro’.

The Qawwals and others wear yellow scarves and turban and carry mustard flowers with them. The Qawwals after offering yellow cloth, mustard to Nizamuddin offers to Khusro and other saints in the khanqah. This celebration is very special in Dargah and as writer Sadia Dehlvi mentions in an article “This is the only occasion when they sing inside the inner chamber containing the blessed grave. Barring a dholak and duff, they are not allowed to use any other musical instruments inside the sacred chamber.”

Sufi khanqahs were always a platform where the interaction between Hindu’s and Muslims took place. Even today, both the Hindu’s and Muslims participate in the age-old celebration of Basant in the dargah. The festivals like these underline and promote the syncretic culture of the country.

E.O.M

The following photographs were shot at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and are arranged in sequence of the whole celebration.

 

Devotees getting ready for the procession to start.

Devotees waiting for the procession to start.

Devotees, qawwal and khadim waiting for the procession to start near the spot where Hazrat Nizamuddin was sitting on a stone in non-existent Mausoleum near Lal Mahal when Amir Khusro and others found him.

One of the khadim of the dargah, preparing for the prayer after which procession starts.

The procession starts with offering prayer at the spot where Hazrat Nizamuddin was sitting on a stone in now non-existent Mausoleum near the Lal Mahal when Amir Khusro and others found him.

The procession is led by Qawwals and the followers of both Hinduism and Islam join.

Devotees carrying mustard flowers, yellow cloth to offer Hazrat Nizamuddin.

Qawwals and other devotees singing songs of spring inside the chamber of Hazarat Nizamuddin after offering yellow chadar.

There is a celebration outside the chamber in the form of qawwali and distribution of sweets. To remind you it symbolises the coming out of Nizamuddin from depression.

This celebration is followed by seeking peace and blessings for one and all.

Then, the chadar is taken to the chamber of Amir Khusro and Qawwal and devotees sing and offer it to the Sufi mystic.

Outside the mazaar, the spring is again celebrated in the form of singing qawwali.

After this, the devotees pray at the graves of other mystics in the premise and offer yellow chadar to them along with mustard flowers.