Muslim Saints of South Asia: The eleventh to ... - blog blog blog

THE HERMIT OF LAHORE
and order, they were called kabūtarān-i khūnīnbāl-i h˛aram (the
blood bathed pigeons of the sanctuary) by the Iranian press (Gol
Mohammadi 1988). By the same token, the multitude of pigeons
on the dome of Dātā Darbār is also a metaphor for the abundance of
pilgrims.
The domed cupola design of Dātā Darbār is typical of the pre-
Mughal Muslim architecture of South Asia: while erecting the
cupolas topping a square building, an intermediate form of squinches
or arched transitional supports was used. These squinches are the
arches built diagonally across the corners of a square to create this
transition from the square to the spherical base of the dome. However,
the technique of erecting domes on squinches did not prove strong
enough when the domes were excessively high or had too large a
radius: such structures could not withstand natural calamities. From
the sixteenth century onwards the Indian architects changed over to
a new design of domed structures, developed in the Timurid Herat
and introduced to the subcontinent by the Mughals. This was the
system of intersecting arches and shield-shaped transitional supports.
These arches reduced almost to half the bay of the dome resting on
them, which strengthened the design of the building (Pugachenkova
1963: 127).
The décor of the dome interior, covered with stylized arabesque
ornamentation, is astonishingly rich. The frieze under the dome is
decorated with a many-tier ligature of thulth script. Right under
the dome there is an elevated cenotaph, surrounded by a marble
balustrade with stone flower vases on consoles. As in other tombs
the sepulchre is covered with a brocade coverlet, entirely laid over
with garlands of rose petals. There is no access to the cenotaph: it is
enclosed, almost up to the level of the frieze, in a tall marble octagon
with depressed scalloped arches on all sides, of which the top is
decorated with open work carving on stone.
One part of the arches is blocked with fine marble lattice. The other
part contains observation windows, through which the pilgrims can
contemplate the sepulchre. The upper panels of the octagon are inlaid
with inscriptions in Persian. 18 Arched openings are curtained, as if
fringed, with flower garlands, ‘consecrated’ by having come in
contact with Data Sahib’s tomb. Having elbowed their way to the
arches, the pilgrims stroke and kiss these garlands, thereby physically
partaking of the saint’s baraka. Essentially the ritual of Data Sahib’s
veneration is limited to circumambulations of the octagon, accompanied
by the recitation of the Fātih˛a, offering of flowers and
distribution of sadaqa, which testifies to the ‘moderation’ of his cult,
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