My visit to Haji Ali Darga

On Sunday I visited the famous Haji Ali Darga in Bombay. It was quite an experience. It was not my first time to a darga as I have been brought up visiting the Ajmer darga. It was in fact the travel to the darga that made it such an experience.

I went there with Param, Kanu, Crystal and Boon. As might be evident, Crystal and Boon are Chinese and were visiting the darga purely for tourist purposes. We 3 Indians consisted of 1 Sikh and 2 Hindus. We made a very religiously diverse group. Shows just how secular India is.

The walk on the causeway leading to the darga was an exhausting one. The sun was shining in all its glory and the crowds swelled as each minute passed. Pushing ahead and sweating buckets, we made the walk to the main entrance of the darga. On the way we were greeted with various sights; beggers- handicapped, desolate, hungry.. yet praying; vendors- selling knickknacks, snacks, balloons, religious items and various others. What got my attention was a vendor selling cassettes of Arabic chants at one point playing Hindu devotional songs. It really touched my heart.

The sun was shining so bad that my sweat was getting into my eyes..even as i was wearing my shades. We girls all had scarves on our heads for the purpose of respecting the doctrine of the darga. But I was more thankful for it shielding our heads from the harsh rays of the sun. Once we removed our footwear, we realized just how hot the floor was. The guys were lucky as they had their socks. Poor us girls, our feet were literally getting baked on the hot stone flooring. Hopping in and out of the little shade we made (squeezed) our way in the main area to offer our offerings and to pay our respects. There was a separate area of females and males. Seemed like a good idea; in terms of the crowd, security and stuff. However I wasn't too pleased as when we went in as far as we could, I found out that females couldn't even touch the tomb. Big disappointment for me as I am used to the full access everyone gets in the darga in Ajmer. Also the chaotic manner in which the offerings were being offered resulted in only Param getting back her offering. Mine was lost in the melee. Another disappoint as compared to darga in Ajmer where no matter the size of the crowd, each person always got back their offerings.

All in all it was a good visit to a revered place. I felt good being in a spiritual place after a long time.

To find out more about the Haji Ali Darga you can visit these sites,
http://www.haji-ali.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haji_Ali_Dargah

The view of the causeway leading to the darga on the islet

View of the darga

The main hall where the tomb is. You can also see the colourful chaddars offered

The crowd on the causeway. This photo shows the way back to the city

Crystal, Kanu, Me and Param against the darga

Crystal, Boon, Me and Param on the causeway against the darga