Epiphanic Experience

HUGH and COLLEEN GANTZER visit Maner Sharif, believed to be the place where Indic Sufism originated

The dargah-shrines stand as impressive as ascetics wrapped in simple, rough garments of
wool. That homespun cloth was called suf and
so those who wore it were termed Sufis. They, however, were more than ascetics. In the eighth century CE, a woman from Basra named Rabiah al-Adawiyah enunciated the Sufi ideal that love of God was an end in itself. It was
not motivated by either hope of paradise or fear of hell, thereby, raising asceticism to the level of mysticism. From then on, the prime quest of Sufis was to seek epiphanic experiences: ecstatic and personal encounters with Divinity.
Such practices are termed tantra in Hinduism and the charismatic movement in Christianity. Islam terms this mystic discipline tasawwuf. The rest of the world calls it Sufism.

In Bihar, that little recognised cradle of experiential faiths, we went in search of the origins of Indic Sufism.

The streets of Patna were festive with Chhath Puja pandals. Friendly devotees clustered
around when we stopped to photograph a roadside shrine. They informed us that even the Bihari diaspora celebrated Chhath wherever they were — “All around the world, at this time, we worship Vishnu as the Sun God.” No other land has as many coruscating variations of faith as we have.

We drove 25 km out of the capital, through rural Bihar,and turned into the grounds of an old and rather ramshackle Raj-era dak bungalow. Across a wide reservoir rose the monastery, the
khanquah of Maner Sharif established in 1180 CE. There, in the monastery, we were welcomed by the courteous Javed Iqbal. Over sweet black tea, biscuits, burfi and chivda, he
spoke to us with quiet authority while the others held back in respect. Women sat patiently on
the floor in the corridor outside, waiting for his spiritual advice.

In the 12th century CE, the great Sufi savant Hazrat Imam Mohammad Taj Faquih had ‘migrated from Quad Sul Khaleel in Jerusalem’,
and arrived here. Though we don’t know why he chose Maner, he did succeed in attracting
many followers to his inspirational creed and established a monastery here. These khanquah, true to the Self-actualising conviction of Sufis, are apparently free to clone off other submonasteries to accommodate
those who have slightly divergent views.

The Maner Sharif monastery is a good example of this harmony: it has been the centre of 14 Sufi orders. The fact that they all live in amity says much for the resilient inclusiveness of their faith. In fact, though the seer returned
to Jerusalem, leaving his monastery in the hands of his three sons, there was no schism! That must be unique in the annals of religious
movements, worldwide. We drove across to the Chhoti Dargah built in 1616. Its architecture, according to the official brochure, reflected
a combination of Mughal and Afghan styles. The heavy central dome with four smaller domes in the corners hints vaguely at the architecture of the Afghan fortress of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. We trudged up to the high plinth and the pillared verandah that encircled the hall enshrining the commemorative grave of Hazrat Makhdum Shaikh Bayazid Dewan Shah Daulat Maneri, to give him his full name and title.

We walked around the cool verandah, noticed the carvings of verses from the Quran on the ceiling and the graves, dotted around the grounds, covered in bright chaddars. In the central hall was a symbolic tomb under a spangled canopy with another tomb just outside it. We were privileged to spread a green chaddar on the main monument, which
represented the tomb of the seer. By Islamic tradition, the actual grave is in a basement
on a level below that of the symbolic tomb.

The older Bari Dargah holds the tomb of Sultan-ul-Makhdom Shaikh Kamaluddin Ahmed Yahiya Maneri, the grandson of the founder. He died in 1291. No one was quite sure when the dargah was built, though we were told that the mosque within its walled garden was erected in the late 13th century, and the pillared court in the next century.

While its grounds and environs are more impressive than the Chhoti Dargah, it is, in effect, just a walled enclosure around a central pavilion holding the tomb beneath a ceremonial canopy. Outside, there is an intriguing statue
of a mythical horse-lion, which some local people identify as a Shadul. A young man informs us, solemnly, that it is the protector of the dargah and comes alive and attacks anyone who threatens the sanctity of the tomb.

Such thoughts might be dismissed as heretical by those who hew to the letter of the written word. But then, while the Sufis adhere strictly to the tenets and obligations of the Quran, they prefer a more intuitive path in quest of their epiphany.

Landmark Bridge

The Mahatma Gandhi Setu spans the 7.5km width of the Ganga from Patna to Hajipur. It is said to be Asia’s longest land bridge and was built when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister, reputedly in fulfilment of an election promise. The views from the bridge are impressive, particularly of the fertile mud-banks called the diara. Once said to be infested with dacoits and crocodiles, it is now coveted farmland, because its rich soil is renewed every year by the floods.

Mauryan Pillars

The archaeological remains of ancient Pataliputra, namely the 80-pillared hall and Arogya Vihar, are located at Kumrahar, about six km east of the Patna railway station. The pillared hall at Kumrahar was brought to light
by excavations conducted by Archaeological
Survey of India during 1912 and 1915. All the
pillars were made of black spotted buff sandstone monoliths with a lustrous shine typical of the Mauryan period.