KOCHI: Inside Aspinwall Warehouse, one room easily captures my interest. The prison-like setup piques my curiosity. Inside I am welcomed by monochromatic images, artfully captured, depicting the anthropology of a small village in Malappuram — Kondotty.
In walks artist Biju Ibrahim, the eyes behind the lens. “This space was initially a movie set and I didn’t want to change it. And Shubigi Rao, my curator and I agreed that it would complement my collection,” he says.
The ‘Soul That Art at Rest’, is a rare instance where Biju trains his lens to something personal — his land and the extraordinary lives of his people, a mystery unfolding in black and white. “There’s a touch of secrecy about the people of Kondotty,” he adds. “Sufi knowledge or Sufi rahasyam is relatively unknown outside this township and the prison seemed to be symbolic, holding their secrets well.”
Making your way from the left corner, you will find Silsila, also called Kondotty’s Silsila, showing Prophet Muhammed’s roots. The next one ‘Naqara’ has a hand holding a stick used to beat drums. Follows an image capturing a prayer ritual where every Thursday, believers recite chants to remember the Sufiyakal (Sufis).
“If you look closely”, he says, “you can see an umbrella on the side and some very old seeds scattered in the middle. This is ‘Khwaja Khatam’, a 45-minute ritual of chanting combined with tossing and retrieving the seeds from the prayer mat.”
Result of a ten-year rigorous work, the Malappuram lad reveals in glimpses his mystical connection with Kondotty. It is nothing new for the artist to spend years with his subjects, that’s his modus operandi. “As a photographer, you are often seen as a voyeur. Residing with the natives is my way of asking consent, and this requires at least a year or two,” he chuckles.
The next one is an image of knives and tools, another Sufi tradition ‘Kuthu Ratheeb’. The ritual involves piercing one’s body to cure diseases. Though the act involves weapons, there have been no reported cases of injury.
“Before starting the ritual, the weapons are placed just like in the image, and are used only after receiving permission (ijazah) from a guru who oversees the entire thing,” he says. “But the most surprising part of this practice is that they magically heal from these wounds and emerge stronger and wiser,” he says with awe evident in his voice.
“She is reading the ‘Nafeesath mala’,” Biju points to the next. It is an Arabi-Malayalam text favoured by expecting ladies for a safe delivery and a healthy child. “In the frame she is reading a description of Nafeesath Beevi.”
However, the most captivating image is what comes next. Another ritual, ‘Kuthu Ratheeb’ is in action. “It starts with two people inside the circle, and the number keeps climbing. Two becomes three, four and so on. And the rest gathers around with duffs.”
As he explains the Sufi way of life, he reveals his personal journey too. He was 20 when he picked up his uncle’s autofocus camera. From that day on photography became his way of life. His earlier nomadic life and several journeys to archaeological sites with his uncle altered his course of photography, combined with 10 years working in cinema.
Identical twins in front of the maqbara (tomb) of the first six mureed (disciples) of Sufi Hazrat Khwaja Valiya Muhammed Sha Thangal, a play of shadows within Indo-Saracenic architecture, something exclusive to Kondotty dargahs, “Bijapur is the only other place in South India where you can see this type of architecture”, rare family portraits, religious practices, architecture and business of the natives... His work is all-encompassing.
A search for spirituality is a major part of an artist’s life and the people of Kondotty seem to have a collective unconscious. “I have always been astonished by the embedded knowledge the natives possess,” Biju adds. “Initially I had taken up an authoritative stand while clicking my photographs. But once you surrender yourself to the subject and its surroundings, their emotions start reflecting in the photos you take.”
“The people of Kondotty have a light within them, it can be the light of knowledge or their connection with God, passed down from generation to generation. I’ve tried to bring that out in my work,” he says. Maybe that’s why these photographs have a touch of divinity to them.
The series comes full circle with the final photograph — a text carved into a stone in a dargah with the names of four Sufis — Ali, Hassan, Hussain and Fatima. Being well-versed in Sufi knowledge, it is also believed that the Prophet himself addressed them. Sufi tradition and knowledge surround the people of Kondotty like a web, and this collection lifts that invisible veil for the world to see.