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BY HARPREET KAUR
Built in 1431, this monument
has been sentinel to the
shores of Bombay since a
long time. 500 yards into the sea from the shore,
Haji Ali is said to be
the tomb of an ancient
merchant saint, who died on his way to Mecca.
His casket was brought to Bombay, where the
dargah was built by Haji
Usman Rangikar, the man who owned the ship that
took pilgrims to Mecca.
The white dome and the
solitary minaret of the mosque behind the dargah
stands out on the west shoreline of Mumbai. Behind
the huge marble doorway lies the tomb enclosed in
a white structure lying in an exquisite silver
frame supported by marble pillars. The inside of
the dome is covered in colourful glass arranged in
a kaleidoscopic pattern,
which spells the names
of Allah in 99 different forms.
Every day,
thousands of pilgrims from Mumbai and
beyond walk from the shore to
the dargah on the concrete walkway to say their
prayers and ask for wishes, which the
devout claim, do come true. The
walkway some years back had just beggars lined up,
but today, it has
shops on its left up to the entrance of the dargah
-- on the right,
beggars have the full
advantage of the space – they eat, sleep and make
themselves at home here.
 The
dargah is taken care by a trust which earns
approximately Rs 30 lakh
a month. For the past two years
as I have watched and
visited it, no repairs
have been carried out to the entire structure.
Being thrust into the sea,
the structure faces massive
damage each year and repairs, plastering,
reconstruction and
painting are required every year.
As you walk into the
Haji Ali dargah compound,
and you notice the side
structure is covered in the brocade cloth offered
at the dargah, the pillars are cracking and almost
split in half, almost ready to tumble down.
With crowds of
pilgrims and visitors around,
one fears to imagine the consequences.
According to a stall-owner
here, there is a
tussle between the trustees
of the dargah and
the municipal corporation (BMC) . The
trustees want the BMC to do the
repairs and the BMC wants them to do it. In fact,
he says, a suit is going
on in the court and
nothing can be done until the final verdict
comes. So, the ancient monument awaits the final
decision, braving salty winds and corrosion
of time. One hopes the Haji Ali dargah
gets the badly-needed repairs and the throngs
of devotees spared of a calamity. Unless the
urgent work required is done at the earliest, this
historic structure may degenerate into a
dilapidated structure, with a "NO ENTRANCE" board
hung outside.
BY HARPREET KAUR |
