Djin of Masjid Bhoori Bhatyari
Masjid Bhoori Bhatyari on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is a beautiful shrine of green dome and white minarets. Many centuries ago, the gruesome murder of a lady innkeeper in the site has given rise to the tale of this place being haunted by the spectre of the innkeeper. Sarat C Das finds out.
Masjid Bhoori Bhatyari of Delhi has a distinct green dome flanked by two white minarets. A big mike rigged on a minaret summons people for prayer. The other minaret atops a holy crescent moon. The Masjid is a beautiful riot of colors - violet frieze, white wall, and turquoise color compound wall.
Situated on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, which connects to Old Delhi, the mosque is at a proximity to Khooni Darwaza, a condemned structure associated with many gory deaths during Mughal and Raj period. The fear of souls of previous ages haunting the Khooni Darwaza permeates to the Masjid site as well. The site is also not far away from three huge graveyards behind Express Building, and near Vikram Nagar.
Built by Firoz Shah Tughluq, a Muslim ruler of the Tughlaq Dynasty who succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughluq following the later's death from a fatal illness, the Masjid Bhoori Bhatyari, does not appear to be too ancient. Located on the edge of a crowded lane and next to a bus stop, the Masjid provides a panoramic view of Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg populated with media houses.
Centuries ago, there was an inn in this location and the innkeeper, a woman, was really adored by Firoz Shah Tughluq. Because, the brown rotis from her inn's oven was so salacious she was liked by many including the emperor. It is said Firoz Shah even had built shikargah near this place.
One day the innkeeper was gruesomely murdered at the location. An aggrieved emperor built Masjid Bhoori Bhatyari in the site. It is said her soul haunts this place till date.
Maulvi Naseer Ahmed, who lived at the mosque for more than three decades, said, "The erstwhile owner of the inn is very much around, though not in a corporeal form."
" I saw a djinn disguised as a large snake."
Some scholars are of opinion that Bhoori Bhatyari is a misnomer for a nobleman, Bhu Ali Bhatti, who had once occupied the site. Others believe the nobleman Bhu Ali Bhatti is actually associated with another site known as Bhuli Bhatyari ka Mahal.