Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Rafaee
He is a Rafaee but also sells herbal medicines , because he hails from Murshidabad he is known as Bangali Baba.
Late Handi Sai
After the untimely death of Sikandarwali Baba , Handi Sai took over the leadership for a short while..And than he passed away due to overdose they say he is buried in Kota..
He had visited my shop and was keen I become a Rafaee but I was not interested and eventually i joined the Order of The Dam Madar Malangs ..
I became a Dam Madar Malang two years back.. my peer is Baba Syed Ali Masoom Asqan of Gawlior.
Late Bhandari Bawa
Bhandari Bawa worked as a cook for the Chancawalli Rafaees and hated me documenting the Rafaees , specially as they smoked hash, and most of the drug peddlers and other drug takers who were Murids of the Murshad came to the Dhuni.
His hate for me was venomously attacking, he tried many a times to get me into trouble and he was successful, he tripped me at the Dhuni Holy Fire and my leg touched the food for which I got a severe lashing from Late Sikandar Wali baba and was told not to come to the Dhuni. So for a year till his death I stayed away from the Chancawalli rafaees after his death I was called back by his successor Handi sai through my friend Sakib the florist.
Bhandari Bawa died a very torturous painful death at Ajmer , most of the Bawas think I cursed him to death.. whic I told them was not true merely a figment of their mind.
However now that I am a Dam Madar Malang I am respected by the Rafaees ..
Handi Sai too died at Kota and the Chancawalli Rafaees are now a splintered group totally .. a handful as compared to the earlier happier times .
Faiyaz Ali Baba Rafaee
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I met him with the Chancawalli Rafaees , he is an expert with the sword, in cutting his tongue, and piercing his eye ball.
We got along very well, I met him recently at Ajmer Sharif , he told me he had moved away from the Chancawalli Rafaees.
It was alleged that he was married , and fed up of his wife and domesticity he had become an ascetic and rafaee.
His name is Fayaz Ali Bawa Rafaee..His son is a Rafaee too...My earliest Rafaee contact..
Shahenshah Bawa Pierces His Head- Chancawalli Rafaees
Shahenshah Bawa Pierces His Head- Chancawalli Rafaees, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
These are sharp pointed thin rods that are inserted in the had , tongue mouth and this is a form of ritual , they showcase during the various Sandal procession and get alms..Shahenshah Baba is an exponent of this ritual he inserts a dagger into his cheeks or a nail that is than hammered onto a stool..
Hardcore Body Piercing -The Chancawalli Rafaees
Hardcore Body Piercing -The Chancawalli Rafaees, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
These are fakirs or rafaees , from Chancawalli a Holy shrine at Marol Andheri East..
During the Mahim Urus of Makhdhoom Shah Baba they sit at the Dhuni - Holy Fire behind the Dargah..
After the Mahim Urus gets over they move to the Dhuni at Mahim on the main road Holy Shrine of Baba Fakhruddin..he was a contemporary and associate of Baba Makhdhoom... he is called Chote Sarkar Little Lord by the locals who hail him as their patron Saint.
I have been very close to this Sufi shrine .
Sharukh Rafaee .. Son of Chalak Ali Rafaee
This was the first time I spotted Sharukh living on the pavements of main Mahim road very close to Fakhruddin Shah Babas dargah with his mother.
I tried documenting his story , but was not very successful as his family , kept moving from place to place , his mother split with his famous rafaee dad.
But whenever I met Sharukh I gave him money.. and he took it willingly.
Like his father he is an exponent of tongue cutting and eye ball piercing.
Jamat Ali Rafaee Eldest Son of Late Sikandar Wali Baba
Jamat Ali Rafaee Eldest Son of Late Sikandar Wali Baba, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
After the death of his father head of the Chancawalli Rafaees late Sikandar Wali Baba one thought that Jamat Ali his eldest son would become the Murshad ..but it did not happen, today the once famous rafaee group is in shambles..
Barring Shahenshah Baba Kotwal all others like Fayaz Ali Baba , Hassan Ganda , Farukh Rafaee branched out to start their own Rafaee groups..
It saddens me as I documented the rise fall of this group for several years .. now I see them , but have no heart shooting them.
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Shah-e-Mardan Sher-e-Yazdan Quwat-e-Parwardigar Lafata Ila Ali La Saif Ila Zulfiqar , originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1 ....
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Dargah of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar Unava Gujrat , a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr. HAZRAT SYED ALI MIRA DATAR'S G...
