The Beggars of Ajmer ...Come Here Because The Khwajah Answers Their Prayers, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
The Holy Saint of Ajmer Hazrat Moinuddin Chishty al Sabri is fondly endearingly universally known as Khwajah Garib Nawaz , the Messiah of the Poor.
The beggars the hijras the malangs the rafaees sadhus people from all walks of life beyond caste color creed come here to pay tribute at his Tomb..all year round.
But his 800 annual Urus or birthday celebrations the crowds were horrendous huge and every room lodge packed , people slep on the roads streets least bothered about their sufferings it was laying their head bowing genuflecting the Holy Tomb at the Dargah that was most important.
As I was not allowed with the camera within the Holy Shrine you can see my earlier pictures shot as visual poetry.
However with due respect to the Dargah Trustees and the Khadims I made up shooting the lovers of the Holy Saint his people and his chosen ones the poor needy homeless beggars of Ajmer .. this is my tribute to the resilience and arduous souls of the beggars blind limbless on crutches dead but sometimes alive.
And my genre is Muslim beggars that neither government Muslim society or the clerics who love raining fatwas will ever rehabilitate ..through my pictures i am sure one day not tomorrow perhaps in the distant future the beggars will get succor hope and be part of humanity.. now living on leftovers and at the brink.
God forgive me for shooting beggars of Ajmer your people too .. your celebrity iconic photographers were too busy shooting the IPL and the Bharat Bandh.. as a beggar poet I shot beggars .. to document their pain poetry and pathos.
May they get relief , get over their hardships and earthly body soul sufferings..
Ameen
