The land of Scorpions

India has been a land of Rulers and Kings who traveled from far off lands and came here with the desire of wealth that India has beheld since ages. The motive of these foreign invaders was greed but most of them stayed here mesmerized by this strange exotic land till their last breath. These invaders who ultimately settled here and contributed heavily to the culture, architecture and add to the general blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures.
And such amalgamation of cultures and religion lead to many stories and legends to be born. Adding to the mystic quality of this land, which through centuries had sustained its mythologies and beliefs. Even till today in spite of the modern technology and lifestyle, people still go back to their beliefs and faith.
One such instance is the small town of Amroha situated in Uttar Pradesh, 134 kilometers from Delhi. This town was established by King Amarjodha around 474 BC.

This town has great historical importance not only in respect to its age and ancient heritage, but also to this strange legend of the spiritual belongings. As legend goes, it was on 30 June 1272 AD when a saint came to this small town from a town Wasit in Iran via Multan. He was the Holy Saint–Syed Husain Sharafuddin Shahvilayat–. This town–Amroha–became his place of residence and prayer.

After his death his place of burial in Amroha came to become a famous place for pilgrimage and spiritual importance. It still draws huge believers and the non-believers equally. A strange phenomena occurs here. The grave site has a large numbers of scorpions, –a deadly venomous insect– they surprisingly don’t bite in the vicinity of the grave. This miracle has made many people to travel to this place even from far off lands for the authentication of the word of mouth. It is the inhabitants of this town– the Naqvi clan–who have their family tree traced - to Syed Shahvilayat proudly boast that one can carry the scorpion out of the shrine’s vicinity with the permission of the saint for a promised time, in which the scorpion will obey his master and not harm the carrier. If the time passes by, then there is no guarantee if the same scorpion stings.
It is also said that this shrine has medicinal cures for some ailments. Like in the case of corns which till date have no cure in modern medicine. It is said that if anyone suffering from corns brush their feet with broom that is used in the dargah the corns will be healed. Also adding to mystique of this place is in the autumn season that glucose pills fall from the tree which has sprouted from the grave of Bibi Bakhoi (daughter of the syed vilayat). And the same dissolves in the mouth instantly.

This area where the holy saint rests is also shared by his family members. His wife–Hazrat Kaneez Fatima urf Tahira–his son–Syed Amir Ali urf Doodha Dhari–his daughter–Bibi Bakhoi–his Grandson–Dade Raje– are some of the members of the family who rest here. Syed Amir Ali urf Doodha Dhari never ate food or drank water. He existed on milk alone. Therefore, another medicinal ability of the shrine shared by Syed Amir Ali urf Doodha Dhari is to provide milk to animals and women who are unable to lactate.



The Land of Scorpions. by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Many people from different walks of life, all religions, any caste visit this shrine for the blessings of this Holy Saint for their wishes to come true. Amroha has been a center of spirituality for ages attracting many till date and the crowd of people will still throng to this place which is called “The Land of Scorpions”.

By: - Shariq Haider Naqvi.

Architecture

by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Save us.

by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.




Save us. by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Delhi after heavy Rain.

by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Earth, man and creations...

Earth, man and creations... by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

From traditional household utensils to clay furniture, clay plays an integral part in the life of Indians.
Clay culture, an ancient form of art, is as fascinating as snake charmers and computer geeks that have captivated foreign audiences.
45 years old potter, Rajinder Singh, says he inherited this art form from his father. Playing with clay was a childhood enthrallment that later became my profession. Rajinder’s wife Maya Devi who also makes clay pots however feels their children never showed any interest in this form of art.
Clay a refined form of soil is utilized extensively across India. Since the Harrapa civilization, clay has acclaimed traditional importance.
Singh adds with a witty humor that poor people in India still use earthen pots to store and cool water while refrigerators are a property for rich folks.
An age old history to support this form of art also tells about the sculpture making as a traditional craft.
While shaping fingers of an earthen goddess idol, Ajay Kumar Haldar, a sculpture maker says it is creativity mixed with interest, and use of clay in sculpture making is an interesting hobby.
In the recent times Plaster of Paris (POP) is proving biggest challenge for these creative clay artists. POP as compared to clay costs less and one does not need to slog much while designing sculptures.
Kamala Singh, a housewife who decorates her house with clay decorative says earthen pots have their own importance. During Diwali, (festival of lights), Diyas(small earthen pot) made of clay are still used to garnish houses and also Gamlas (earthen pot) are used to grow plants and are significant for those who want to make theirs gardens look good.
Not only for embellishment, clay is still, used by rural or poor class in India for plastering walls and make kuccha houses (temporary/ delicate).

Jawahar, Jinnah or Jaswant: Who is right?

Jawahar, Jinnah or Jaswant: Who is right? by Shariq H Naqvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
The truth shall prevail till the end and the person who supports it has to face the music at large. This phenomenon is and will prevail till the dooms day. But one who has the courage to support truth and the only truth has to lose much in this mortal world. Ravana a greatest scholar of his time–who even endangered the custodians of the Heavens–is now considered to be the part of evil, only because he was on the evil path and against truth. Similarly, Jaswant Singh–considered to be the Ravana by the fanatic Muslims–suddenly emerged as one of the greatest socialist Indian of the present era.
The cost of speaking the truth resulted in expulsion of the founder member of the BJP that too not personally but through an official meeting. The winner from the Darjeeling parliamentary seat in the 2009 general election and a towering personality of the world diplomacy suddenly was pushed to the valleys of controversies. The book—Jinnah: India Partition Independence authored by Jaswant Singh advocated that the Quaid-E-Aazam: Jinnah, Father of Pakistan: Jinnah is not the person responsible for the partition of Greater India into two states with the communal dagger but it was a diplomatic and political poison which resulted from the sallied selfish and unethical diplomacy of the first Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and the Iron-man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Only these two are responsible which perverted India on to the communal tracks.
For the time being and under the present political uproar in the country this book may be considered as the suicidal note by Jaswant Singh. But truth shall prevail and who knows that 60 years down line from today someone will pen in favour of Jaswant Singh portraying him to be a curtain raiser of the one-sided theory which Congress has enchanted to the Indian through a diplomatic communalism.