Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi

Nizamuddin Dargah

Where Delhi Comes to Sing

In the medieval village of Ghiyaspur — now Nizamuddin West, wrapped by modern Delhi — the Chishti saint Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325) ran a kitchen that never closed. Famine or plenty, his khanqah fed all comers while he fasted; to Sultan Alauddin Khalji's request for a visit he replied that his house had two doors — if the sultan entered one, he would leave by the other. Seven centuries on, his tomb is the nerve centre of Sufi culture in India.

The Complex

• The saint's tomb: white dome (1562), marble lattice, perpetual crowds tying threads (mannat) on the jaalis and offering rose petals and chadars.
• Amir Khusrau's tomb: the Tuti-e-Hind (Parrot of India) — inventor, tradition says, of the tabla and sitar's ancestors and father of qawwali — at his master's feet, as the master wished.
• Jahanara Begum's grave: Shah Jahan's Sufi-inclined daughter lies roofless by her own wish — "let grass be my tomb's covering" — beside the saint she loved.
• Jamaat Khana Masjid (Khilji-era), the baoli stepwell, Chausath Khamba, and 70+ graves of princes, poets, and scholars.

Qawwali and Urs

• Every Thursday evening after Maghrib prayers, hereditary darbari qawwals sing in the courtyard — a thousand-strong audience swaying to "Kun Faya Kun" lineages. Daily qawwali after evening prayer; daily free langar.
• Urs (17th–18th Rabi II by the commonly cited calendar) and Khusrau's Urs draw lakhs; the tombs are lit (charaghan), sweets distributed, fateha recited.
• Basant Panchami is celebrated here too: legend says Khusrau, desperate to make his grieving master smile after a nephew's death, dressed in yellow and sang of spring — and the saint smiled.

Visiting

• Free entry, all faiths, 5 AM–10:30 PM; Thursday evenings arrive early — the courtyard fills by sunset.
• Women are traditionally not admitted to the inner sanctum; all may attend qawwali and langar.
• The lanes of the Basti — kebab stalls, ittar shops, the Baoli — are half the experience; Humayun's Tomb is a short walk away.