Haji Ali Mosque

Another adventure from last Friday. After visiting the Laksmi Temple we walked three blocks to the entrance of the famous Haji Ali Mosque, which is one of the most famous mosques, not only because of the influence of Haji Ali in Indian history, but also because it is actually located out in the bay of Mumbai. You have to walk on a zig-zagging causeway around a hundred yards of so out into the bay, which you can do as long as it's not high tide - it can get a little sketchy if it's monsoon season (which it is right now in Mumbai), but luckily it was not high tide when we arrived. At high tide, especially during monsoon season, the waves will splash up over the walkway. Besides wanting to visit the Laksmi Temple we were also pushing back our arrival for a little later in the afternoon - it was a Friday, and thus the holy day in Islam, and we wanted to wait for the crowds to die down a little. The walk out is often lined with beggars, many with extraordinary physical deformities, so just a mild warning if that sort of things bothers you, but you will not be hassled in any way - this is a very holy site for Muslims so the feeling is hectic but very welcoming. It's sad that more Americans don't visit mosques - I've been fortunate to visit them in many countries, and have always been greeted very warmly. Not every mosque allows non-Muslims to visit, so it's something you want to check on when you are considering it - and women should pack a scarf to cover their head. I visited the same mosque six years ago and I remember that there were no pictures allowed at the tomb itself, so I respectfully put my camera away before I entered the mosque - but was surprised to see around twenty different people, all of them obviously Islamic, actively taking pictures, sometimes video - so I took out my camera and quietly snapped a few pictures. I'm including one, just to show the beauty of the location, and also to encourage folks to consider visiting a mosque when they get the chance - it is a very enligthening and, at least to me, soulful experience. In the last post I mentioned the odd similarities between the experience of the visiting the temple and the mosque back to back. One of the differences was the nature of the propitiatory offering - instead of the flowers and sweets featured at the Laksmi temple, instead warshippers mainly brought fabric, which was then drapped over the tomb. The other difference was the food associated with the experience - outside the temple there were all sorts of stalls, most providing the sweets to leave as gifts, but others serving up veg options - along the causeway near the shore there were also innumerable stalls, in this case often featuring meat meals. Fascinating, a definitely something everyone who visits Mumbai should do. My understanding is that they're going to be rebuilding the mosque structure itself, which has taken quite a pounding over the years from the inclement Mumbai weather, so it may look completely different by the time I finally make it back to India again. After the mosque we returned to the hotel and Annie and I caught a late lunch, and I introduced her to dal, naan and the sweet lassi.