Uncanny Solace: Bizarre Rituals
© Taha Ahmad
Taha Ahmad: A Displaced Hope
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Genies are powerful supernatural entities created out of smokeless fire, according to the Islamic theology.
I was born and raised in the Indian city of Lucknow, where the existence of Genies with their supernatural powers is a common belief.
Superstition and Firoz Shah Kotla are convergently linked since ages. The Kotla fortress in the Indian capital was built by King Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century. Today, it’s a ruin nestling between a cricket stadium and the city’s ring road. It is within these ruins one finds the heart of Genie worship.
Thousands of people from all walks of life gather here every Thursday; praying, writing letters, pasting coins, lighting candles and lamps to impress the Genies in exchange for a better life. In the alcoves of the fortress’s stone walls, people can be seen inking and pasting hand written letters and photocopies of their personal documents with passport size photographs, hoping that their problems will be resolved with the blessings of the Genies.
A middle-aged woman, whom I encountered during one of my visits, asserted that the only reason her loved ones are “hale and hearty” is because she has been regularly visiting the fort every Thursday for the last 20 years. Another family whom I confronted during another visit, narrated that Sulaiman, a self-proclaimed Godmen, declared that the family’s wishes and yearnings will be entertained in the court of the Genies and fulfilled swiftly, depending upon how hefty an amount they will pay to him in Indian rupees.
A society which is completely ostracized due to political negligence, religious differences, unawareness and lack of justice has become just a money-making mechanism for the self-proclaimed Godmen in the fort, who exploit the misfortunes of these people. People bring in money, which is swept away in the name of blind superstition. These unaware and uneducated devotees, who believe that Genies have a cure for every woe of theirs, worship them and are ruthlessly swindled by these Godmen who assert that their wish to end their woes will be heard by the Genies, depending upon how much money a devotee will pay to them.
Women who are said to be possessed have to undergo atrocities, which only one or two family members who accompany them, witness and experience. During exorcism by these Godmen, the women are brutally treated and manhandled. As the exorcism ritual progresses, these possessed women speak in a tone very different from their own original voice. According to the Godmen, the Genie which possesses them speaks stubbornly of not leaving the body. It also warns the family members holding the woman of harming them. The women cry, scream, scratch with their nails and bang their heads on the walls, some lying unconsciously in the alcoves of the fortress. However, this is not only pertaining to women but also men, who sometimes, get under the grip of such supernatural forces.
People visiting these places do not have the tools of education to question these practices, indestructible devotion and their ignorant behavior. The ending of a Thursday in Kotla is rather ironic. The letters and money left by the devotees are ruthlessly removed by the clerics working at the fort. The money is divided amongst the clerics while the handwritten letters with the people’s hope for a better life, end up in the garbage. The atrocities and the brutalities done to the devotees are a direct violation of the fundamental human rights, which mostly goes unreported by the conventional journalism in India. Not only political laxity is responsible for this but religious altercation also plays a major role.
The project aims to explore what I was taught while growing up and how it contradicts with what is being practiced at Kotla, bringing attention to the injustice done to devotees. It is a personal journal, a journey into the nostalgic space of my childhood lapsing into history, challenging the contemporary belief in the doctrines of a religion. The work sheds light on how the critical issues of social injustice and violation of fundamental human rights remain hidden under the pretext of Genie worship at the Ferozshah Kotla fortress.
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About Taha Ahmad
Taha Ahmad is a visual artist based in India. He was born in Lucknow, in 1994. He is represented as a part of VII Photo Agency’s mentorship program. His works are a visual representation of the shift in the pluralistic landscape of India, the traumatic past and the culture which is threatened by religious conflicts, social injustice and politics in the times we live in.
Taha Ahmad has been the first Indian to receive The Documentary Project Fund/Award in 2017. He has also been the recipient of Toto-Tasveer Award for Photography 2018, Social Documentary Photography Grant SACAC 2020, Samyak Drishti Photo South Asia Grant 2020, Emerging Artist Award Extended Support Platform FICA (Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art) 2020 and the Neel Dongre Grant/Award for Excellence in Photography 2016-17.
His works has been exhibited at the Indian Photo Festival (IPF) Hyderabad India 2017 and 2020, Eyes on Main Street Wilson Outdoor Photo Festival North Carolina United States of America 2018, Festival Influences Indiennes Angers France 2018, Addis Foto Fest Ethiopia Africa 2018, Photography Festival Maribor Slovenia Europe 2018, The Pier-2 Art Center Kaohsiung Taiwan 2019, ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’ The Neon Heater Art Gallery Findlay Ohio United States of America 2018, ‘Our India’ Gather Art Gallery Kaohsiung Taiwan, ‘Something Black Something White’ Annual exhibition of Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival Malaysia 2017, Duje Pase Ton (From the Other Side):Arts across the Border, from the two Punjabs The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford Canada 2021 and has been screened at the Photography Festival Maribor Slovenia 2017, Odesa.Batumi Photo Days 2017 Georgia, Alliance française de Bangalore 2018, Naples Italy by curator Mario Spada 2020 and Lostgen Contemporary Art Gallery Kuala Lumpur as part of the show 'Realities' 2017 showcasing the works of South-Asian Photographers.
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