When Mahatma Gandhi Bowed Down To Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki R.A In Mehrauli Sharif: A Forgotten Lesson In Pluralism
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
9 September 2025
Historic Visit: On January 27, 1948, just three days before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi visited the Dargah of Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli Sharif in order to heal post-Partition communal wounds, inspect riot damage, and reassure Muslims about their place in India.
Main Points
1. Symbolism and Context: Gandhi ji described the visit as a pilgrimage of peace, not just ritual homage. At a time when shrines were desecrated and minorities were fleeing, his presence symbolized India’s composite spiritual culture. It was both a moral and political act of extraordinary courage.
2. Address at the Dargah: Gandhi ji urged Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs to take a vow to never allow strife to rise again and to live in brotherhood. He emphasized that India’s strength lay in unity of religions, not in domination by one community. Women, usually barred from the innermost shrine, were allowed entry with him—an unprecedented gesture symbolizing openness.
3. Political and Spiritual Dimensions: Gandhi ji’s visit was both a spiritual statement of pluralism and a political assertion of secular India. It was among his last public acts, showing his unyielding commitment to communal harmony despite rising opposition.
4. Legacy and Commemoration: The shrine continues to be a symbol of communal harmony, celebrated annually through the Urs and Phoolon Ki Sair festivals. Local residents view the festival as an embodiment of Gandhi’s plural vision and Ganga-Jamuni tehzīb (syncretic culture). The Mehrauli dargah thus sustains Gandhi’s legacy not through plaques or statues, but through living traditions of shared ritual and memory.
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Recently, the 3-day long annual Urs at the largest Dargah of Delhi— Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki R.A aka Qutub Saheb in Mehrauli Sharif—has concluded with an increased number of shrine visitors from across the country belonging to various faith traditions thronging the tomb of Qutub Saheb. As I participated in the famous evening ritual of the Dargah called “Raushni” (lightening at the holy grave), I recalled a historic incident that took place at the same courtyard of the Sufi divine: Mahatma Gandhi paid homage—or, more precisely, made a solemn visit—to the revered shrine of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz’s chief disciple in Delhi Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli Sharif on January 27, 1948. This was a deeply symbolic gesture intended to appease communal tensions in Delhi following intense post-Partition violence.
Just three days before his assassination on January 30, Gandhi went to inspect the damage inflicted upon the Dargah during communal riots and to urge harmony and reconciliation among communities. His presence aimed to reassure Muslims who feared leaving the area, and he appealed to all to live together peacefully. According to the Gandhi Heritage Site, Gandhi and his aides arrived in the morning around 10 a.m., staying until about 12 p.m. He was accompanied by prominent leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, among others. It was a rare shrine visit by the three and one of Gandhi’s final public acts. So, while Gandhi's visit to Mehrauli Sharif was a purely reverential visit, it was both an act of respect and a pivotal effort to restore trust and harmony amid escalating communal violence.
On January 27, 1948, just three days before an assassin’s bullets felled him, Mahatma Gandhi undertook what may well be described as his last pilgrimage of peace. His destination was not a temple of marble, nor the seat of political power in New Delhi, but the centuries-old Dargah of Khwaja Qutbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī in Mehrauli Sharif. It was an unusual yet profoundly symbolic journey: a Hindu leader, frail and weary, walking into a Muslim shrine to reassure a shaken community and to remind a fractured nation of the indivisible soul of India.
The backdrop was grim. Partition had left Delhi scarred. Muslim families were fleeing in fear, shrines had been desecrated, and trust between communities had collapsed. In such a moment, Gandhi chose to visit the Dargah—not to offer ritual homage in the traditional sense, but to affirm his lifelong conviction that India’s spiritual soil belonged equally to all faith traditions. For him, Mehrauli Sharif was not just a sacred site of Sufi piety, but a living reminder of India’s composite culture, the very fabric under threat.
Significantly, his visit lasted barely two hours. But it left behind an enduring impact. Accompanied by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Gandhi ji walked among the ruins of violence, spoke gently with local residents, and appealed to them not to abandon hope or their homeland. At a time when others demanded the expulsion of minorities, Gandhi told Muslims to remain, insisting that India without them would cease to be India. It was both a moral stand and a political act of extraordinary courage.
In retrospect, Gandhi’s walk into Mehrauli’s shrine can be seen as his final message. He was reminding the majority that their strength lay not in exclusion, but in embracing difference. He was telling the fearful minority that their place in India was not conditional, but fundamental. And he was cautioning the nation that without pluralism, freedom itself would be hollow. Today, as shrines, mosques, temples, and churches once again become fault lines in our public discourse, Gandhi’s visit to Mehrauli resonates with unsettling urgency. It was not the act of a politician calculating votes, but of a saintly leader who knew his time was short and his country’s wounds were deep.
The Dargah of Khwaja Qutub Saheb still stands, nestled in the heart of Mehrauli. Few who visit it today are aware that Gandhi, on the eve of his martyrdom, came there to plant a seed of hope. Perhaps it is time we remembered. In his final days, Gandhi showed us where India’s true strength lay—in the quiet sanctity of shared spaces, in the courage to walk into the “other’s” holy ground, and in the refusal to surrender to the politics of fear. If we truly wish to honor Gandhi, we must not merely garland his statues or quote his aphorisms. We must walk his walk—towards Mehrauli, towards each other, and towards a vision of India where shrines, like people, belong to all.
In January 1948, Delhi was reeling under post-Partition violence. Gandhi had observed a six-day fast (January 13–18) to induce communal harmony. He ended the fast only after Hindu and Sikh leaders agreed to restore and return places of worship, including around 117 mosques and Dargahs, to Muslim communities.
Here’s a historic image capturing Mahatma Gandhi at the Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki Dargah in Mehrauli—an evocative visual that brings to life his poignant visit of January 27, 1948. Here, Gandhi ji can be seen not just as a pilgrim, but as a messenger of peace, determined to heal the scars of communal fury. Notably, Gandhi ji was deeply affected by the vandalism the shrine had suffered and personally appealed to Hindu and Sikh refugees to help rebuild and restore the damaged holy site, even urging Prime Minister Nehru to allocate ₹50,000 for restoration—significant in its time.
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Excerpts from His Speech at the Dargah
Gandhi ji addressed a gathering and framed his message with humility and inclusiveness:
“I have come here on pilgrimage. I request, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs who have come here with cleansed hearts, to take a vow that they will never allow strife to raise its head, but will live in amity, united as friends and brothers. We must purify ourselves and meet even our opponents with love.”
Another version in English—based on his original Urdu remarks—added:
“I would request you—Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who have come here with cleansed hearts—to take a vow at this holy place that you will never allow strife to raise its head, but will live in amity, united as friends and brothers.”
Following the Mehrauli visit, Gandhi continued to engage deeply with leaders, including Nehru, Azad, and members of the Congress Working Committee. Prayer meetings and discussions continued as he remained at Birla House—his final residence—until his assassination on January 30, 1948.
Gandhi’s stop at Mehrauli Dargah was more than merely a spiritual symbolic piety—it was a political statement. Even Jawaharlal Nehru backed Gandhi’s insistence on restoring Sufi shrines. Records suggest Nehru directed the Delhi administration to release funds for repairs of the dargahs and other Muslim places of worship. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, as Gandhi’s companion during the visit, recalls that Gandhi’s gesture was crucial in persuading many Muslims not to migrate. It reassured them that they were not “aliens” in their own country. This makes the Mehrauli visit politically poignant, while highlighting Gandhi ji’s uncompromising commitment to pluralism at the very moment forces opposed to it were tightening around him. Besides the widely quoted lines from his Dargah speech, Gandhi also framed his remarks in the language of pilgrimage:
“I have come here on pilgrimage. I would request you…to take a vow at this holy place that you will never allow strife to raise its head.”
He specifically asked the crowd to remember that India’s strength was in its unity of religions, not in one community dominating another. Notably, women—traditionally barred from entering the inner sanctum—were allowed to accompany him inside. Perhaps, for the first time women were permitted into the innermost shrine—a breaking of precedent—underlining the gravity and open spirit of the occasion. Gandhi remarked that this itself should be a symbol of cleansing hearts and beginning anew. These statements were reported in The Hindustan Times and Harijan, and preserved in the Gandhi Heritage Portal.
The Dargah of Khwaja Qutub Saheb continues to be a living symbol of communal harmony, celebrated annually through the Phoolon Ki Sair festival. In this tradition, communities of all backgrounds—Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs—offer floral Chadars and Pankhas at both the Dargah and the nearby Devi Yogmaya temple. Local voices highlight Gandhi’s impact. Sufi activists such as Manzur Zahoor Chishti who runs an online portal Sufi Media Services told this writer that the festival’s essence as a tribute to Gandhi’s belief in India's secular ethos. Residents and local social activists in Mehrauli Sharif recall how Gandhi persuaded Muslims to stay in Delhi rather than migrate to Pakistan—a personal appeal that changed many minds. Thus, Gandhi ji's final public appeal at Mehrauli Sharif remains a stirring testament to his lifelong struggle for India’s plural soul—an appeal rooted in action, empathy, and a potent moral vision.
The Mehrauli Dargah continues to embody Gandhi ji’s legacy especially in its Phoolon ki Sair (Procession of Flowers). The tradition links the shrine of Khwaja Qutub Saheb with the nearby Yogmaya temple, as devotees carry floral offerings from one to the other. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs participate side by side, enacting the very brotherhood Gandhi had called for in his last speech at the shrine. Local residents recount that after Gandhi’s 1948 visit, community leaders began consciously highlighting this joint festival as a living example of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzib. Thus, the Mehrauli Dargah doesn’t just commemorate Gandhi with plaques or statues—it keeps his vision alive in ritual practice and communal memory.
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A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar, Sufi poet and English-Arabic-Urdu-Hindi writer with a background in a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India. He is currently serving as Head of International Affairs at Voice for Peace & Justice, Jammu & Kashmir.
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