Hardcore Eyeball Piercing - Mohomed Rafaee

Hardcore Eyeball Piercing - Mohomed Rafaee, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

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These are images of a Urus procession , I shot a few years back.. tucked away in set called Urus of Fakhruddin Shah Baba .. a few Rafaees I shot have died , including Handi Sai and Barsati baba.

The others I shot simply disappeared , as the group of Rafaees called Chancawalli is now a splintered one .. they came from a Dargah at Andheri East Marol Shansawalli or Chancawalli.

I documented this group from the Dhuni at Mahim Dargah of Makhdhoom Shah Baba and than followed them to the various other dargahs prominently Haji Malang it was their earlier Murshad Sikandar Wali Baba now dead who introduced me to this mountainous shrine.

Than I was introduced to Ajmer Sharif Dargah of Khwajah Moinuddin Chishty I shot from 2005 and in 2010 I became a Dam Madar Malang myself .. me and my friend Marc De Clercq and leaving behind the Rafaees I began documenting the Malangs.

So now I am trying to give a new lease , new life to my old color pictures trying to add starkness and refresh my old memories ..and thus showing you the world of fakirs spirtual mendicants ascetics of a Sufi order called Rafaees.


Chalak Ali and Sharukh rafaee are father and son team now estranged , he left Sharukhs mother and moved away...