It’s early evening, and a Kinner/Hijra group is performing at the main shrine of the Haji Malang Dargah – singing and playing the dholak or dholki and seeking alms. A group from Byculla in Mumbai is performing in the main compound as the police sit behind them, and various florists from the compound surrounding the dargah give them alms.
Some of these donations are made in elaborate rituals with currency notes, which are handed over to the performer or the Guru of the group, who is sitting and singing. They sing praises of Haji Malang – the Sufi saint whose resting place this dargah is – and the performance ends at sunset with the azan for the Maghrib prayer.
This scene of celebration is witnessed every year at the Haji Malang Dargah, a religious shrine located 50 km from Mumbai’s airport at Malanggad, a hill fort in Kalyan in Thane district. Every year during the Urs – the death anniversary of Sufi mystics that are celebrated as weddings – the hill shrine hosts believers from across religions, castes, and genders. A large percentage of the pilgrims are transgender persons who identify as Kinner or Hijra, not only from Maharashtra but across the country. Mostly relegated to traditional occupations of seeking alms in exchange and sex work, Kinner and Hijra communities face discrimination and harassment frequently.
But not at the Urs. Here, they are often revered and have access to the inner sanctum of the shrines.
Historically, the Haji Malang hill has been a shared space with multiple religious associations – Haji Malang, the Muslim pir or saint; Nal Raja, a Hindu chieftain; and the Brahmin Mujawars who have been caretakers of the dargah for over 14 generations. A family from the Koli community also participates in the Urs processions. The dargah also had the patronage of the Maratha empire during colonial times. Not only is it visited by Hindus from various caste backgrounds, it also hosts a shrine to Wagh Devi in a Nav Durga temple within the complex.
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.
