During the Urus of Holy Saint Makhdhoom Shah Baba at Mahim,which is celebrated with great pomp splendor , inaugurated by a grand procession by the Mahim police and the police pay tribute to him by placing a Chaddar and sandal paste at His Holy Shrine , with this ceremony the Urus commences for 10 days , and there is a huge fair at the seafront .
Huge crowds come to the Holy Shrine , from all over Mumbai and many part of India such is his following known as Kutba e Konkan and the pride of Mumbai .. promoter of peace tolerance and coexistence Hindus Muslims all communities come to the Dargah for holistic healing offer prayers take his Blessings .
Now hidden away from the crowds , hidden away from the Main Dargah , at the back of the Holy Shrine is the seat of the Rifai Silsila , that can be accessed from the back via the police lane too.. or via the Dargah.
The Rafaees or Rifais are followers of a Sufi Saint Ahmed Rifai from Iraq and descendant of the Holy Prophets lineage .
The Rifais are Sufi mendicants , last vestige of the fakirs of yore , they perform body piercing acts , and entertain the crowds that pays them generously ..there are several Rafaee orders Qadri Jalali etc .
The Rifaisat Mahim hail from the Shancawalli Dargah So I began calling the Chancawalli Rafaees .. I began documenting them from Mahim under the patronage of late Sikandar Wali Baba , after his sad demise Handi Sai in the picture took over the seat of the Murshad , but than he too passed away at Kota Rajastan, several other replacements .. and the grooup self splintered each one going his way.
But I meet them all at Jalali Chowk at Ajmer Urus .. and I sit with them talk of old times , I dont smoke hash or chillum , but always share tea with them.
A lot of my rafaee friends died , one of the main Rafaee connected also to the Dam Madar Malang order is Mehboob Ali Bawa .. I met him at Urus Of Zinda Shah Madar in Makanpur .
I was shooting he Rafaees following them during the Urus circuit , in a way they were the ones that showed me Haji Malang Shrine and Ajmer too.
This years I could not meet them at Mahim Urus I was in Lucknow for Chehlum. and now with my bronchial attacks a serious diabetic leg wound I am not sure if I will be able to climb the Malangad Mountains for the Urus of Haji Malang Baba .
The Rafaees are simple folks but they can get hyper , and maybe because they smoke a lot of dope they tend to get volatile and bad tempered but cool down after some time.
The are recluse ascetic and loners .. so they have a lot of riff raff hangar ons as followers or Murids , these Murids do the domestic chores of the Rifais , and are kept satisfied with getting to smoke and free food.
The Rafaees also do Dua Taweez spiritual healing exorcisms etc ..and these are some 40 old frames I am re blogging as monochromes of Rifai life at the Mahim Dhuni.
After I became a Malang of the Dam Madar Malang order I began documenting them and my interaction with the Rifais became negligible.
