The Muharram procession, near Charminar in Hyderabad on Wednesday, to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
The generational tradition of offering dhatti to the alams being carried on an elephant by the heir of Asaf Jahi family continued on Wednesday, when Azmat Jah offered the embroidered banners during the 10th day Muharram procession in Hyderabad.
The procession of the elephant, Roopvathi, with the alams from Bibi ka Alawa that began at 1 p.m. saw traditional memorialisation of martyrdom of Imam Hussain. The tradition dates back to the reign of Qutb Shahi rulers who ruled between 1518 and 1687.
In a sea of men and women in black, the pachyderm led the procession that began from Bibi ka Alawa and traversed through Yakutpura, Etibar Chowk, Mir Alam Mandi passed through the inner lanes before reaching Charminar as families turned up to make offerings of flowers, clothes and other precious objects. In designated spots, bare torso men whipped themselves or rhythmically patted their chest with the right palm with enough force to make it bleed.
Police threw a dragnet of security and created a cordoned path for the elephant, for the mourners and for the bystanders. Lining the route, squads of people distributed food and liquid refreshments to everyone in the path.
If Aslam and his friends pooled money to brew 120 litres of tea, another group of friends cooked one tonne of food for visitors near Aza Khana e Zehra, among the newer Ashoorkhanas, built by Mir Osman Ali Khan in honour of his mother.
The tradition of offering dhatti and nazrana has been identified with the Asaf Jahi dynasty since the times of Seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. The titular Eighth Nizam, Mukarram Jah Bahadur, too, offered dhatti and nazrana from the premises known as ‘peeli darwaza’ . With the offering by Azmat Jah, titled the Ninth Nizam, in the 1446 Muharram, the baton has passed to another generation.
