Category Archives: Travel
Silk Road Travelogue: Encounter with an Ismaili Family in Tashkurgan, China
Photo Essay: Sacred Spaces by Canadian Photographer Muslim Harji
Silk Road Travelogue: Photos of Historic Kashgar and Spectacular Drive Through the Karakoram Highway to Tashkurgan
Please Click: Photos of Exhilarating Kashgar and Scenic Drive to Tashkurgan
Photo: Ali Karim. Copyright. Please click for more photos.
Date posted: November 15, 2016.
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Part 2 of Silk Road Travelogue by Ali Karim: Turpan and Historic Kashgar
PLEASE CLICK: Ali Karim’s Second Installment Covers Ancient Historic Sites, Vibrant Markets, Beautiful People and Impressive Mosques in Turpan and Kashgar
Please click on image for second installment in a special series on the Silk Road. Photos: Ali Karim. Copyright.
Date posted: November 9, 2016.
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Silk Road Travelogue by Ali Karim: An Invitation to a Great Adventure
Please click on image for first installment in a special series on the Silk Road. Photos: Ali Karim. Copyright.
Date posted: Friday, October 28, 2016.
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National Geographic: Remote Gojal in N. Pakistan where 20,000 Ismailis Live, Is Nothing Like You’d Expect
“Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan.” — Matthieu Paley, National Geographic, October 24, 2016.
One of the most striking and beautiful group portraits on Simerg is the one below by world renowned photographer Matthieu Paley that shows Ismaili girls commemorating a visit by Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, to the Pamirs in the 1990’s. Paley has just contributed a magnificent story and photographs for National Geographic. See his piece by clicking on the image below or on This Remote Pakistani Village Is Nothing Like You’d Expect by Matthieu Paley.
The photo was taken during Didar (Invitation) – a celebration that takes place on 28th of May every year to commemorate the anniversary of the Aga Khan’s visit to the village in the 1990s. During the celebrations the villagers dress up, dance outdoors to the accordion and drums and sing ginane (religious songs), which tell of him being their Noor (Light). The photograph was taken as these girls, dressed in bright atlas silk fabric with crowns on their heads, were going out to dance. Photo: Matthieu Paley. Copyright.
For Matthieu Paley’s photos on Simerg, please click Matthieu Paley: Journey to the Roof of the World (Portraits of Ismailis).
And, please do not miss our last post, New Video: An Inspiring Moment that Will Never Be Forgotten as Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, Blesses Murids in Kyrgyzstan
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STARTING SOON AT SIMERGPHOTOS: ALI KARIM’S SILK ROAD TRAVELOGUE
Later this week, http://www.Simergphotos.com will begin to serialize a travelogue by Ali Karim of his recent visit to parts of the Silk Road, including Xinjiang and Hunza. Do not miss Karim’s memorable post commencing in a few days.
A scene from Kashgar’s vibrant night market. Photo: Ali Karim. Copyright.
Date posted: October 25, 2016.
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Photo Essay: The Dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia and Its Basti Through the Lens of Muslim Harji
“The dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia is the unquestionable historic, religious, and geographic origin of the neighborhood, the reason it came into existence, and the reason it continues to draw visitors from the world over.” — Michael Snyder, Columbia Undergraduate Journal of South Asian Studies
PLEASE CLICK: The Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
While walking deeper inside the Nizamuddin basti, the bursting aroma of sandalwood agarbattis (incense) mingle with the smell of the city and the open courtyard of the dargah is gradually filled with men and women. The agarbattis and diyas brightens up the dark closure, with each person lighting up to 20 agarbattis at a particular time in order to get purified of the evil and to clean the air of the surrounding negativity. It is said that the saint’s powers can cure people from all the djinns and negativity surrounding their bodies and hence leave them purified. Photo: Muslim Harji. Copyright. Please click on image for story and photos.
Date posted: October 13, 2016.
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BBC Travel: Central Asia’s Pamirs Might Be the World’s Last True Adventure + Posts of Pamir Photos at Simergphotos
Happy children at the Dushanbe Ismaili Centre. For a collection of remarkable photos of Tajikistan at Simergphotos, please click on links provided below.
BBC Travel has just published a gallery of photos on the Pamirs of Gorno-Badakhshan, a vast region mainly inhabited by Ismaili Muslims. To view the gallery, please click on Living on the Roof of the World.
We invite our readers to also visit our own posts containing a vast selection of outstanding photos from Tajikistan taken by Muslim Harji, A.M. Rajput and others by clicking on the following links:
- Prayer Houses of Badakhshan by Muslim Harji
- An Ismaili Wedding in the Pamirs by Muslim Harji
- The Ismailis of Badakhshan by Muslim Harji
- “Ba Shokouh” – The Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe, Tajikistan by FNDA Architecture
- Photo Gallery: Ismaili Portraits From Tajikistan by A.M. Rajput
- Living on the Roof of the World. (External BBC Link)
Date posted: October 3, 2016.
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Your Opportunity to Acquire a Highly Acclaimed Beautiful New Book About the People and Food of the Pamirs
Frederik van Oudenhoven happily displaying the 688 page book “With Our Own Hands” that he co-authored with Jamila Haider. Photo: Facebook page, PamirFoodandLife
“Those of us reading this book several thousand miles away from the Pamir Mountains cannot fail to be moved by the celebration of human diversity and dignity. I hope this book will act as a spur to other such works, and to the preservation and celebration of other such ancient cultures, wherever they are in the world” — HRH The Prince of Wales in Foreword to “With Our Own Hands.”
“These mountains [the Pamirs] have had a strong influence on the culture and practices surrounding the Pamiri Ismaili faith. While 15 millions Ismaili Muslims live around the world, the Pamir mountains is the only region in the world where they form a majority of the population.” — Excerpt from “With Our Own Hands,” page 382.
A book that began as a simple 30 page recipe book to fulfill a promise to a grandmother has grown to a magnificent volume of almost 700 pages telling the cultural and agricultural history of the Afghan and Tajik Pamirs, one of the world’s least known and most isolated civilizations. Through the lens of local recipes, essays and stories, and accompanied by the work of three award-winning photographs, “With Our Own Hands” describes Pamiri food and its origins, people’s daily lives, their struggle and celebrations. Simerg carried a special feature on the making of the book (see link at end of this post). The highly acclaimed and award winning work by Frederik van Oudenhoven and Jamila Haider was beautifully featured on BBC a few weeks ago. Jamila Haider says that everyone who has seen the book, has asked how to get one.
The authors ensured that each of the 1800 communities of the Pamirs received a copy of “With Our Own Hands.” In this photo, schoolgirls in the Bartang valley are standing with a copy of the book. The authors have noted that they were received time and time again with the warmest hospitality one could ever imagine. Photo: Facebook page, PamirFoodandLife.
ACCOLADES FOR THE BOOK
“This…may be one of the most beautiful books I have ever read..!” — Frénk van der Linden.
“People touch the book and stroke it, and it is as if there is no distance between them and the pages…it’s very touching to see.” – Facebook comment
In size, rigor and thoughtfulness [this book] has become a touching piece of art.” — Geerdt Magiels, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
TO BUY “WITH OUR OWN HANDS”
We take great delight in informing our readers that with great luck and timing, we have managed to obtain a few copies of “With Our Own Hands” that were in stock in North America. We are grateful to the book’s Canadian distributors, the UBCpress, for making 21 copies of the book available to us. The book is out of stock at Amazon.com, but numerous sellers are offering the book from US$120.00 and up. Simerg is offering the book to interested Canadian readers on a first-come first-served basis at Cdn$85.00 per copy plus taxes/shipping/insurance (which will vary across Canada). The book may be reserved/purchased as follow:
NOTE: We wish to inform our readers that the book is sold out. Request a copy by writing to simergbooks@aol.com, and we will notify you as soon as we have more information from the book’s distributors in North America about its availability in Canada.
Payment Methods:
Paypal: Simergbooks has been verified by Paypal. To purchase a copy of “With Our Own Hands”, please send a request to simergbooks@aol.com and an invoice will be generated through Paypal provided we still have the book in stock. You can then pay via Paypal. In view of the limited quantities, payment should be received within 24 hours after the invoice.
Email Transfer: To purchase a copy via email fund transfer, please send a request to simergbooks@aol.com. Once we have confirmed to you via email that we have the book in stock, we will request you to send the payment via email transfer. In view of the limited quantities payment should be received within 24 hours after the invoice.
AN EXTRAORDINARY BOOK FOR YOUR HOME
This book will remain for a long time on your family’s shelf by virtue of its extraordinary quality and for its portrayal in a respectable manner of the food, culture and traditions of the beautiful people of the Pamirs.
Date posted: Sunday, August 7, 2016.
Last updated: Monday, August 22, 2016.
NOTE: We wish to inform our readers that the book is sold out. Request a copy by writing to simergbooks@aol.com, and we will notify you as soon as we have more information from the book’s distributors in North America about its availability in Canada.
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