Bhopal: The searing summer sun is masked by clouds but the rays that manage to filter through succeed in lending a divine aspect to the Madhya Pradesh capital's ‘Bada Talab’ and the dargah of Hazrat Shah Ali Shah Rahmatullah Alaih as oarsmen convey boatloads of devotees and tourists to Takia islet in the midst of the colossal lake.
Each time the oars dip into the water, the passengers are struck by cold spray and several eyes expectantly observe the isle since ‘Takia Wale Baba’, as the seer is lovingly called, seems to wield the kind of mystic and soothing charm that was the hallmark of the Sultanate era’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
On the grills of the dargah, countless devotees tied bits of thread hoping that Baba would fulfil their wishes. A similar practice is followed at the world-renowned Fatehpur Sikri-based mausoleum of Sheikh Salim Chisti, the Sufi saint who was revered by the great Mughal Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar.
The dargah dates back about three centuries to the time when Nawab Yar Muhammad Khan Bahadur wed Rajput lady Mamola Bai who brought her spiritual guide Hazrat Shah here after the marriage.
One day, the royal lady suddenly took ill, her pulse weakened and material for the funeral began to be gathered… Some persons from the Nawab’s household reached the Takia and informed the Hazrat about the perilous situation.
“Lakh mar jaayen lakh ka palanhaar na marey,” were the seer’s cryptic words before he announced that Mamola Bai would receive ten years of his life.
Baba retired into his room. On the seventh day of prayer, the lady regained consciousness and when the room was opened, Hazrat Shah was no more… True to the prophecy, the Nawab's wife lived for a decade more.
Mamola Bai also finds place in ‘The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India’ authored by Pakistan's former foreign secretary Shaharyar Mohammad Khan, who is the son of Abida Sultan -- the daughter of Bhopal’s last ruling nawab Hamidullah Khan.