At Nizamuddin dargah, a night-long celebration that drew in hundreds

People swayed and clapped as quawwals sang numerous songs including “tu bada gareeb nawaz hai”, “aao madiney chalein”, and “mere baba Farid”.

Said Sirajuddin Nizami, Sajjadanashin of the dargah: “We had not made any special attempts to publicise the event but people turned up in thousands, many of whom stayed till the end.”

As the night wore on, two giant cakes, with the words “Happy Birthday Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Meboob E elahi”, inscribed on them, were carried by devotees towards the main shrine.

Commenting on this, Nizami, whose family has been “serving the shrine for more than 700 years”, said, “The cake-cutting ceremony is not part of the traditional or formal celebrations at the dargah. It is carried out by the devotees on their own, to show their love.”

Besides the cake, devotees also distributed biryani, bread pakodas, tomato soup, rusk, mathri, apples, coffee, tea and various kinds of juices and soft drinks throughout the night.

At 2 am, ghusal (cleaning) of the holy grave was carried out with kevda and rose water carried in silver utensils.

Said Saba Rehman, a 36-year-old independent filmmaker: “I come to the dargah occasionally and it is always a good experience, but the celebrations tonight were something else. I really liked the celebratory atmosphere and the decorations, especially the ‘Happy Birthday’ sign hanging from the festoons. It was also a bit chaotic but a lot of fun nevertheless.”

Rehman, who arrived at the shrine at 3.30 am, said, “I was wary of leaving home at such an hour, given we live in Delhi. But the moment the dargah premises neared, I forgot everything as the quawwalis drew me in. Apart from regular quawwalis, what I also liked was the fact that a lot of lesser-known numbers such as ‘Meri malli gudariya dhode, ganj-e-shakar ke laal’ were sung.”

For Rehman’s friend, Remya Muralidharan (35), a freelance creative producer from Mumbai, her first visit to the dargah was a “spiritually uplifting” experience. “Being there and hearing the music of Nizami brothers was soul-stirring. You also get to see people from all faiths united, admiring the intimate experience of spiritual enlightenment…,” she said.