Pierre Crié

Le mont Kailash se situe au sud-ouest du Tibet. L'Indus, le Brahmapoutre et le Karnali y prennent leur source. Les Tibétains accordent un pouvoir occulte aux montagnes. Par diverses pratiques, entrant en communication avec elles, ils les rendent sensibles à leurs existences successives. Il en va de même pour les lacs dont ils sont environnés. Une montagne ou un lac peut incarner le réceptacle spirituel et religieux d'un individu, d'une famille, sinon de la nation entière. Les pèlerins font leurs ablutions dans des bénitiers naturels : les lacs de purification. A certaines haltes de leur long périple, ils suspendent des pierres à des pitons rocheux au moyen d'écharpes en soie ou en mousseline, exposant leurs péchés au vent glacé du pardon. Ils en constituent aussi des tas pyramidaux : ce sont des cairns recouverts de drapeaux de prière multicolores. La pierre et l'eau sont sacrées, parce que le site lui-même est sacré. Les herbes médicinales que les pèlerins y cueillent ont, à leurs yeux, un pouvoir de guérison accru. Il en est qui sollicitent le corps de la montagne en suçant des glaçons et en portant à leur bouche de la poussière de roche. La Cène s'ouvre.

Martin Melkonian

Classic analog photographic prints. Image forming metals: silver, gold, cobalt, copper, sélénium, onto fibre-based papers. The alchemy of the photographer's darkroom. Archival museum quality.

The Dargah…a sacred space set in white marble, a tomb dominated by a towering dome in which a saint, a Wali, rests.

Turbaned dervishes, fakirs, wandering monks, spiritual guides (pirs) accompanied by their disciples, the poor, peasants, villagers, bedraggled beggars, the homeless and the hungry all come to bend in respect before the tomb. One encounters princes, nawabs, repentant bandits, rich merchants, industrialists, artists, poets and women draped in veils, all absorbed in reading from The Book… All are pilgrims; some have come from far.

The Dargah is a place where one comes to find peace. It is living proof of a way of thinking, of a philosophy and a faith that, from medieval to contemporary India, addresses itself to all men's hearts. For the simple reason that Sufism accepts everyone. Thousands of visitors come to the Dargah. The great majority is Muslim, but Sikhs, Hindus, Jains and Christians come as well. All are welcome, all worthy of receiving the saint's blessing, all allowed to lighten their burden and to sit by the tomb to be enveloped in its grace.

Going to the Dargah is a response to the calling of the Other World, to the calling of the Sufi saint, mediator of the hereafter, whose pure soul rejoices in the Divine light. He has within himself a power that comes from God and this power is given freely to whoever asks for it.

The Dargah is therefore a place for all prayers: do'a, fateha, namaz. Individually or collectively, whispered or psalmodized, the prayer of gratitude or the supplication of forgiveness hangs on all lips. It springs from the throat of the qawwal singer, it is the cry of the woman in trance, it is the dance of the enraptured devotee, and it is in tears. It accompanies every gesture as Bismillah, "God bless you." It introduces every encounter as Asalam 'alikum, "May peace be with you." It punctuates every greeting as Do'a hia apki, "May my prayer be with you."

The Sufi saint is not dead; he is behind a veil and his aura embraces everyone who approaches him. One comes and talks to him. If one cannot, one writes to him or simply tears a piece of clothing that is then hung to the moucharabieh. Responding to this gesture, the saint will cure the sick child, lessen suffering, rectify injustice, save from despair, chase an evil spirit, heal the body or heal the mind. 

It is the duty of the saints to hear and answer prayers. The cult of the Dargah has survived for more than nine centuries and is still growing, despite criticism of being a deviant form of idolatry. 

Sufism, born from the heart of Islam, speaks of a God of mercy compassionate to man. Its message of love was spread through the world by the immortal poets, mystics and masters from Iran, Turkey, Egypt and India: Mawlana Rum, Junyad, 'Attar, Ghauz-e 'Azam, Mo'inuddin, Qutbuddin, Nizamuddin…and their numerous disciples. 

Each Dargah tells of a Sufi lineage (silsila), a teaching and a practice. But it is foremost a place that recalls an alliance: the pact between the Divine and his creation. One comes to it as one would come to a spring to quench one's thirst. Leaving behind intelligence and reason, one comes with innocence.

   Claire Devos

Classic analog photographic prints. Image forming metals: silver, gold, cobalt, copper, sélénium, onto fibre-based papers. The alchemy of the photographer's darkroom. Archival museum quality.