On a Sufi trail.....

To carry on from my post on the Nizamuddin mela, here's a selection of the little known Sufi shrines in the area.....small, artistic and radiating an atmosphere that words fail to describe. Our first stop was at Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Shaikh--belonging to Ala-ud-din's time. At certain times, salt oozes out of the tiled interiors, and we were lucky that it was one of those times. Next, at the Dargah Bhoore Shah Baba, an unassuming shrine on a busy main road, which we have all passed countless times...but how many of us have ever stopped? A short rickshaw ride down the road, circling the Sabz Burj, takes us to Dargah Patesha, named after a Sufi saint who legend says hid among the leaves when visitors came! There is a 700 year old tree near the tomb. The road running parallel to the walls of Humayun's tomb has some gems on either side--including an impressive monument which is the tomb of an unknown person, and further ahead, the Dargah of Jalal ud din Shami. Come back to the main road, and a short distance away is the "Khanqah and Chilla" of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, where the greatest Sufi saint of Delhi/Nizamuddin spent 66 years of his life. One can pass through a gateway, past the mosque, and enter the small room where the saint prayed and meditated. A little further ahead is a Sikh gurudwara, and down the road, the pretty Neeli Gumbad, of blue tiles