It is the season of ziyarat (visits), marsiyas (elegies) and sonorous nohas (poems) as Hyderabad commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala in the month of Muharram.
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The streets radiating out of Darulshifa, Purani Haveli, Hussainialam and Noor Khan Bazaar resonate with the sounds of majlis (gatherings) and the message from the life and sacrifice of Imam Hussain. The tales of valour and bravery with images of thirst and want appear at odds with sloshing water of the rain in July. The occasional spell of rain and the discomfort of walking barefoot in the mud or on wet floors doesn’t deter the faithful as they walk and hail rides to the next Ashoorkhana for benediction, offering flowers and touching the Alams (battle standards). The fragrant smoke of oud and the scent of lilies and roses blends with the smell of bagara or flavoured rice.
At the four-century-old Baadshahi Ashoorkhana, Mir Abbas Moosavi talks about a time when the 10-day Muharram period used to be like a carnival. “It used to be like a mela with a number of shops that would pop up around the Ashoorkhana. Now, people are more focused and come for ziyaarat and seeing the alams,” says the 11th-generation caretaker of the place.
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“The one thing that has changed after Police Action in 1948 is that now we have maatam (grieving and self-flagellation) in the open. Otherwise, it used to be done in secret after the morning prayers called Daurey-ki-Majlis where people would move from one home to another and grieve secretly,” informs Mr. Moosavi.
At the ancestral home of poet Mah Laqa Bai Chanda, accessible through a lane where people have to walk in single file, the alams have been draped in green and red zari cloth as they would have been during the heyday of the poet. Only a few make the trip here to see the alams.
“Muharram is the month of sacrifice. The fathomless meaning of azadari or Imam Hussain’s martyrdom has intrigued me since childhood. I remember going to Chaderghat along with my grandfather wearing a tiny sherwani to offer last sehra or garland to Bibi ka Alam as a child of five and thinking, why is this procession taken out? Why is Muharram commemorated? It took me a couple of decades to understand its essence,” says Mubashir Ali Khan, a writer studying medicine.
This year, there has been no test procession of the ceremonial elephant through the streets of Hyderabad as Roopvathi, the pachyderm, is considered a seasoned animal. The 36-year-old elephant belonging to the Shri Shaila Mutt Devanagere in Karnataka will travel through the city with the Bibi ka Alam standards on the 10th day of Muharram on Wednesday.