"Sufi Basant" Symbolises Multicultural Muslim Mysticism in India
By
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
13 February
2024
The Spiritually-Inclined Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs
And People Of Other Faiths Celebrate The Sufi Basant Together At The Holy
Shrine Of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. They Offer Yellow Flowers Wearing Yellow
Clothes And Garlands To Mark The Occasion. Celebrated For More Than Seven Centuries,
Basant Is India's Age-Old Representation Of Hindu-Muslim Harmony.
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The
beautiful and historical Sufi tradition of celebrating Basant which marks the
seasonal shift from gloomy winter to joyous spring is an epoch-making part of
Indian Muslim mysticism. It commenced at the famous Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin
Aulia during the 13th-14th century Delhi and is being celebrated at the major
Chishti shrines. Growing up in Delhi, Basant has always had a special appeal
for me since my childhood. While for our Hindu brethren, it is dedicated to
Saraswati, a deity of wisdom, music, flowing water and abundance of knowledge,
art and aesthetics, many Muslims in India have also been celebrating it as what
they have beautifully named the "Sufi Basant".
According
to Hindu mythology, Saraswati depicts a pristine lady seated on a white lotus
that blooms in a wide stretch of water and bedecked with a dazzling white
attire, white flowers and pearls. Thus, Saraswati is seen holding Veena, a
string Hindustani musical instrument like a sitar often used for mystical
music. It is attributed to the formation of words, invention of the Sanskrit
language and composition of hymns, which associates her with the sacred Hindu
rituals performed on the banks of the river Saraswati.
In Sikhism
too, Basant Panchami has a spiritual dimension. "Basant Raga"
constitutes an important composition (raag) included in the Guru Granth Sahib
which is sung with great reverence. Guru Arjan Dev ji urged upon man to submit
himself to the true Guru in order to achieve liberation and the ultimate union
with the Divine. This essential message of the Basant Panchami has greatly been
appreciated by the Indian Muslim Mystics especially Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia R.A
popularly known as the "Beloved of the Divine" (Mahbub e Ilahi) and
his closest disciple Hazrat Ameer Khusro called the "Parrot of India"
(Tooti-e-Hind). Therefore, Sufi Basant is celebrated every year at Dargah
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya R.A which has a beautiful anecdotal background:
Once Hazrat
Nizamuddin was extremely sad because of the death of his nephew, Khwaja
Taqiuddin Nooh, who was very dear to him. As he had no children of his own, he
loved his adopted family from his sister’s side, very deeply. Overwhelmed with
grief of his nephew's sad demise, he put himself into an enforced isolation and
asked his disciples to stop all activities at the Dargah. This left his most
beloved Mureed Ameer Khusro devastated. He could not see the growing sorrow of
his Murshid (spiritual master), as he spent all of his time at his nephew's
grave at “Chilla-e-Sharif”. Khusro, longing for his Murshid's joy and
happiness, devised an ingenious plan. This happened when he saw some Hindu
women in yellow saris carrying mustard flowers and singing hymns. When he asked
the women what they were doing, they told him about the rituals being practised
to make their deity, Saraswati happy. Listening to this, Khusrau immediately
decided to use this festival to bring smiles back to the face of his Murshid.
Thus, he got dressed in a yellow saree and carrying mustard flowers, appeared
in front of Hazrat Nizamuddin. Upon seeing this, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, who
loved the yellow colour, passed a smile and felt elated. And since then, the
beautiful tradition of Sufi Basant is an integral part of his Khanqah's annual
celebrations. On this occasion, Khusro wrote beautiful poems in Brij Bhasha.
One of them goes like this:
Yellow
mustard blossoms have covered entire fields.The mango tree is in bloom,
The flame
of the forest is in bloom,
The Koel
bird flits singing from one branch to another,
And the
fair lady decks herself
With
marigold blossoms the gardener’s wife fetches for her.
The season
is full of yellow flowers
That we
carry to the door of Hazrat Nizamuddin,
Years ago,
my lover had promised he will come visiting me.
Thus, Ameer
Khusro succeeded in his effort as this gesture of showing love through the
Basant celebration made his beloved Murshid smile and marked the end of his
mourning period. Since then, the Dargah through its procession and celebration
continues this tradition of “Sufi Basant" as it turned the grieved Khwaja
into an elated one!
And today
once again the mustard flowers are everywhere at the Dargah. Many shrine
visitors and lovers of Mahbub e Ilahi Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya are joyous to
celebrate the Sufi Basant. Urdu and Persian Sufi compositions are routinely
performed through Qawwalis at the Dargah with Khusro’s lovely composition as
follows:
Aaj
Basant Manaaley Suhagan
Aaj
Basant Manaaley Suhagan
Translation:
Rejoice, O my Beloved, rejoice,
It’s Basant
(spring) here, rejoice!
On the eve
of Sufi Basant, the Daragh is drenched in Yellow. As devotees attend the
celebration across the lines of gender, religion, and caste, the Dargah amidst
the fragrance of its yellow flowers and enveloping sounds of Qawwalis is
submerged into “Sama” symbolising ecstasy, amity, and syncretic Sufi
culture.
The
spiritually-inclined Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and people of other faiths
celebrate the Sufi Basant together at the holy shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin
Aulia. They offer yellow flowers wearing yellow clothes and garlands to mark
the occasion. Celebrated for more than seven centuries, Basant is India's
age-old representation of Hindu-Muslim harmony. Festivals and traditions like
Basant bind us together as a nation across various religious, cultural,
linguistic and social backgrounds. Though Basant finds no mention in any
religious scripture — the Quran, the Vedas or the Bhagwat Gita, it requires a
large heart to embrace the wider notion and beautiful tradition of the Sufi
Basant in our collective consciousness. The essence and cultural and spiritual
connotation of the Sufi Basant cannot be narrowed down to a particular religion
or community. As the Chishti Sufi adage goes: "Your minds have limits but
not your hearts, for they are receptacles of endless capacity." This is
the guiding light and mystical wisdom that flows from the Chishti tradition of
Indian Sufi saint. Famous Urdu poet of Delhi, Rakim Dehlvi has rightly invoked
in his couplets:
Khudaya
Ba'd e Mahshar Ke Agar Aalam Ho Phir Paida,
Tamashagaah-e-aalam
Mein Nizamuddin Shahi ho.
(O God!
After the day of resurrection, if the world comes back to life. Give the crown
to Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia in the circus of this world).
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A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam
Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer with a
background in a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-pluralism/sufi-basant-multicultural-muslim-mysticism-india/d/131709
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