The last shawl

It is a tradition as old as the 400-year-old Jama Masjid itself. When the Mughal empire was at its full glory,the emperor would gift a shawl to the Shahi Imam of the masjid on Eid,in front of thousands who would assemble at the mosque to offer prayers and witness the elaborate ceremony.

Emperors are part of fables now,and much has changed inside the mosque,and outside it,but once every year on Eid,from the ancient folds of a pistachio-green shawl,the dried neem leaves are dusted off,and creases are smoothened with soft caresses. This was the shawl presented to the Shahi Imam in 1856,the year before the last emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was dethroned. Today,it is in possession of the current Shahi Imam’s family. “It is very special to us and Eid wouldn’t be the same without it. When my elder brother became the Imam nine years ago,he inherited the shawl,” says Tariq Bukhari,the youngest son of the late Syed Abdullah Bukhari,the former Shahi Imam who passed away this year.

In 1857,when the Revolt was playing out in Delhi,the British marched to the Red Fort and scripted the end of Mughal rule. At that time,parts of the Jama Masjid were turned into a stable for the Cavalry. The shawl,though,remained untouched.

When Shah Jahan built the Jama Masjid,he brought Syed Abdul Ghafoor Shah Bukhari from Uzbekistan to preside over the mosque. From then on,the family has been appointing its eldest son as the Shahi Imam. On every Eid,one of the oldest families from the Walled City keeps alive the custom that Shah Jahan had started—draping the Imam with the dushlala (Urdu for shawl).