Chandi ki Zarih: The replicas of Imam Hussain mausoleum

Lucknow: Few days before the beginning of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, Jafri Abdullah (26) and his family start the maintenance of the 90-year-old chandi ki zarih (miniature replica of Imam Hussain’s mausoleum).This includes getting the structure polished and repaired in case of any signs of wear and tear.“While observing Azadari (mourning), the zarih is kept in the neatly decorated Imambara at our home. When the month comes to an end and after the commemoration of Badi Majlis, the zarih is covered with a piece of cloth till the onset of next Muharram,” said Abdullah.Like him, many other devouts keep ‘Chandi ki Zarih’. While some have them for generations in Imambaras at their home, others donate it after their wish gets fulfilled.Thirty-year-old Amira Hussain’s maternal home has an Imambara with a ‘Chandi ki Zarih’ bought by her grandmother, and another one which her mother bought after her marriage. Every year she neatly packs her zarih in her luggage or keeps it carefully in her car to bring it to the city where she observes Azadari every year.“If our wish gets fulfilled, we also donate a zarih made of silver or any items related to Azadari including – Janab Ali Asgar ka Jhula, Alam or even chandi ke challe (earrings made of silver wire),” said Hussain.Archana Mishra (50) who is married to a Muslim, said that her family has a Chandi Ki Zarih for about four generations. Siddharth Jain (39), a jeweller who has been selling zarih, Alam and jhula among others made of precious metals for about two decades said that a zarih made of silver generally costs between Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending upon the amount of silver used. Historian Roshan Taqui shared that back in the days zarih and tazia were made of items used by different professionals. “The tazias were made of copper, glass, flower, grass and precious metals like gold and silver. It was during the times of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, a paper businessman, Kagaz Bakshu, popularized the tazias made of paper,” said Taqui.

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