'Spirits do exist here but only the good ones'

The mystery behind the horror tales from Jamali Kamali

Juxtaposed to one of the most prestigious monuments of India, Qutub Minar, is the notorious tomb and mosque of Jamali Kamali. A serene picnic spot for the locals during the day, this tomb is known to have provided many supernatural stories during the night which compelled the Nat Geo Traveller magazine to rate this place as one of India’s most haunted. After chatting with the locals living in and near the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, where Jamali Kamali is located, most of them denied the existence of any supernatural powers there while some took an ambiguous stand by claiming the presence of such powers only to term them as benevolent. 

“We are not denying the existence of spirits, they do exist here but only the good ones," claimed Zaidi, a teacher by profession, who has been visiting the place since 1988 and is a believer of the sufi philosophy. “A place as holy as this can never be haunted, it is blessed by these great souls," he added. On asking about the paranormal activities entailed to the history of this place he did not refute the claims but equivocated by labelling them as good-natured and exaggerated by people. 

Jayanthi, a daily wage labourer living adjacent to the tomb said that she has not experienced anything supernatural yet for the 6 months that she has lived there. Samar Singh, a security guard working there for the past 18 months claimed that there has not been any activity there that should catch anyone’s eye and the stories doing the rounds over the internet are concoctions by people.

What I analysed is that the place is under-maintained with superfluous bushes all around which provides sanctuary to many animals such as pigs, monkeys and dogs. During the night when it gets deserted any movement in those over grown wild vegetation would create an element of fear that they might relate with a paranormal activity. 

The tomb was made to commemorate the sufi saint and poet Jalal Khan or Jamali, who lived somewhere between the reign of Sikandar Lodi and that of Humayun. It contains two graves, one is believed to be of Jamali and the other that of Kamali, whose identity is unknown.