Monday, September 2, 2013

Renouncing Life To Become An Ascetic


Most of the bawas , rafaees malangs have chosen to live a life without attachment to worldly life, and they live , without any permanent address moving from one Urus to the next, some make peace live in the vicinity of a dargah and its Dhuni.. the Holy Fire .

In Indian colloquial parlance they are called Bawas Malangs or Mastan...most of them have followers , hangar ons , who keeps the Bawas need for food hash other comforts alive ,,the real genuine iconic Bawas have their rich patrons and hold sway over their Murids.

I have been documenting the Rafaees , a particular group called the Chancawalli Rafaees from Mumbai attached to the Dhuni of Shancawali Dargah Andheri East,

I first met them at Makhdhoom Shah Babas Dargah Mahim they manage the Dhuni there during the Urus and after their Sandal move to Fakhruddin Shah Babas Dargah Mahim main road.

From there they split into smaller groups .. moving to other Shrines .. than I caught up with them at Haji Malang at the Rafaee Chowk.. and finally to Ajmer Sharif and the Jalali Chowk,,Sola Khamba .. now the entire group has splintered and few of the original members remain..

But I moved away from the Rafaees and began documenting the Malangs of India .. I belong to the Sufi order of Asqan Malangs and the head is Syed Masoomi Baba Madari Asqan.The actual Malangs wear dread locks .. black clothes with white lungis ,, or pajamas

The Malang main Urus is at the Holy Shrine of Zinda Shah Madar Makanpur 65 Km from Kanpur ,,

A lot of Murids become Malangs at Makanpur and there is a ritual of initiation.. and he has to beg from the other malangs and the crowds after he is blessed by Masoomi Baba .

Documenting Malangs and living with them is a learning experience ,,, I became a Malang three years back.. and I connect with them during the Urus at Ajmer Sharif,..

Malang for me is a state of mind that does not change my basic core material only strengthens it..

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