Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thursday Challenge - water

Off Mahalakshmi coast of Mumbai there is this Dargah (tomb) in the Arabian sea. The Dargah Sharief is built on a tiny islet located 500 meters from the coast, in the middle of Worli Bay, in the vicinity of Worli. The edifice is a brilliant specimen of the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. The islet is linked to the city precinct of Mahalakshmi by a narrow causeway, which is nearly a kilometre (0.62 mile) long.The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of a rich Muslim merchant, Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari , who gave up all his worldly possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Hailing from Bukhara, in the ancient Persian Empire and now in Uzbekistan, Bukhari travelled around the world in the early to mid 1400s, and then settled in Mumbai. As per the legend surrounding his life, once the Saint saw a poor woman crying on the road, holding an empty vessel. He asked her what the problem was. She sobbed that that her husband would thrash her since she had stumbled and accidentally spilled the oil she was carrying. He asked her to take him to the spot where she lost the oil. There, he jabbed a finger into the soil and the oil gushed out. The overjoyed woman filled up the vessel and went home.Later, Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari had a recurring - and disturbing - dream that he had injured Mother Earth by his act. Full of remorse, he soon fell ill and directed his followers to cast the coffin carrying his body into the Arabian Sea, once he died. Haji Ali left this world during his journey to Mecca and miraculously the casket carrying his body, floated back to these shores, getting stuck in the string of rocky islets just off the shore of Worli. Thus, the Dargah was constructed there.
Info sourced from Wikipedia.
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29 comments:

  1. Interesting....thanks for sharing.

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  2. What a fascinating post! Beautiful capture as always!

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  3. Lovely Shot !! Yes i have heard about Macca too !!Great post !!

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  4. superbe post bien accompagne par ta photo

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  5. Very interesting piece of history!

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  6. That whole stretch is so beautiful even to just hangout for a few hours!!

    Pixellicious Photos

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  7. Beautiful post. Loved reading about the legend of Haji Ali.

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  8. Day before yesterday I was there only And today again I am present. Thanks to you.

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  9. I absolutely adore this photograph. A stunning shot of a beautiful location - and I love the history behind the Dargah Sharief.

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  10. beautiful shot...and very interesting information. I never knew about the history behind Haji Ali dargah. Thanks for sharing :)

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  11. Really interesting, and the photo is lovely!

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  12. Cool shot
    (always with a little bird ;)
    Interesting to read
    thanks for the info !!!

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  13. Fascinating story! And a wonderful photo too (complete with the signature single bird I see!).

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  14. Beautiful shot...and I loved the story...

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  15. Great story! The water shot fit the theme well.

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  16. beautiful! the water is really calm! i like :D

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  17. its nice that u educate non mumbaikkars of d shoots u take so that they can relate 2 it!!

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  18. Lovely shot though the thumbnail doesn't do justice to the picture :(.

    Great accompanying story though :D

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  19. Haji Ali, i have heard so much about the place....and if i'll ever be in Mumbhai...this is one place i want to go first.........

    really nice cathc.....

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  20. Would love to see pics with a larger frame.

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  21. Purba if you click on the pic it will embiggen...

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  22. Purba if you click on the pic it will embiggen...

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  23. its nice that u educate non mumbaikkars of d shoots u take so that they can relate 2 it!!

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  24. Fascinating story! And a wonderful photo too (complete with the signature single bird I see!).

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