This week I visited two different Sufi shrines. The first was the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, where I went to hear the Qawwalis. Following the advice of my India guidebook I went at dusk and stayed through what I know think was only evening prayers. I went with Melanie and despite now knowing that we missed the Qawwali we had a good time and made a new friend, Hiba. She was there with her mother, sister, and husband. They welcomed us and shared their food with us. I wish we’d known at the time that we were missing out on the main event because it would have been interesting to get to know them better.

At least we saw the shrine. Once we got there it was incredibly beautiful, but walking through the windy pathway to get there was one of the most depressing experiences I’ve had here in Delhi. The beggars and the display of uncleanliness and hunger were very difficult to see. So far that neighborhood has been by far the worst poverty that I have actually walked through here. The scene inside was very different with dozens of families gathered with offerings and mini meals to sit and enjoy the Qawwalis.

The shrine was very beautiful, but I was disappointed that women were not allowed into the shrine itself. This surprised me at a Sufi shrine, but I learned a few days later that this is not the case at all Sufi shrines. For some reason there is a history of excluding women here. There were many men who entered to make offerings of flowers and cloth coverings for the tomb.

The second Sufi shrine I saw was in Fatehpur Sikri at the Jama Masjid. Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of Akbar’s empire for only 14 years, but Akbar initially moved the capital to FatehpurSikri because of the Sufi saint now buried there. The Sufi saint, Shaikh Salim Chishti, is buried in a white marble tomb in the central courtyard of the Jama Masjid. At this shrine women are allowed in to see and pray directly at the tomb. We went in a saw it. Melanie and I had also been given red and yellow threads to tie through the jalis of the tomb. When you tie the thread you can make up to three wishes because Shaikh Salim Chishti is believed to grant wishes because he foresaw Akbar’s wish for a son coming true. The shrine and the rest of the mosque were incredibly beautiful.

The mosque features what our guide described as the tallest arch in all of Asia. It was about 54m high. I ran out onto the piping hot red sandstone to get a picture of the whole arch. It’s so big it was impossible to get the entire thing in one photo – especially while my feet felt like they were completely on fire. Almost as scary as permanent damage to my feet from the hot stone was the incredible amount of bee nests that are present at the FatehpurSikri Jama Masjid. Not only were there quite a few to be seen in the arched entrances, but also they were really rather large. I am not usually scared of that sort of thing, but in the intense heat it made me nervous to think about how well attached they were and how much speed one would pick up if it were to fall. Luckily we didn’t find out from first hand experience.