Reading about Islam, the concept of Khidr, an immortal spirit
that can travel great distances and manifest in different forms; one that’s
been identified as the servant of God in the Quran and linked to a companion of
Moses was a revelation to me!
Firstly, I was intrigued that it's similar to the Hindu
concept of one central immortal spirit and secondly, that it is deeply woven
into Christian and Islamic psyche too; deep enough to influence the
construction and decor of the monumental Aya Sofia and other important
structures with such unwavering faith and devotion.
All those who have already done a trip to Turkey, please
find a reason to go back at least to Istanbul to reexamine this spirit at work!
It was an absolutely stunning read about the developments, so I am going back!
When Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) was run over by
Ottomans (Muslim Turks) In 1453, the sultan then, Mehmet II established Istanbul
as the capital, moving away from Edirne and was faced with the task of
rebuilding the church of Aya Sofia built by the Byzantine (Roman) rulers. As
per the account of Mehmet II’s biographer, Ottoman writers studied the earlier
manuscripts to figure out about the construction and the aura around Aya Sofia.
They then wrote their accounts in which Muslim martyrs, heroes were mentioned.
But in all the reads and writes about the awe of Aya Sofia, the central figure
of the enigmatic Khidr was given pride of place, in the choice of location and
the final form.
The biographer of the first Ottoman ruler, Mehmet II, writes
that the Khidr had urged Justinian, the Byzantine emperor to build the church
at this site, slated to be the site of an ancient temple to show the victory of
Christianity (the Romans) over paganism (indigenous polytheistic practices of
the place run over). And that the plan of this great church was revealed to
Khidr and handed over to the architect.
The special majestic qualities and sacred status of Aya
Sofia made it very difficult to transform it into a church and a later date
into a mosque. Both Romans and Ottomans believed Aya Sofia to be divinely
inspired. This inspired some of the mosaics in certain key places inside the
church. The doorway in the south-west vestibule which was used for processions
during Byzantine rule has an important mosaic of the Virgin and Child with
Justinian and Constantine. Constantine holds a model of the city of
Constantinople while Justinian offers a miniature Aya Sofia to the Mother of
God. Yet another inspired mosaic showing innate respect to the higher power
in the construction of Aya Sofia is located above the central door leading to
the main nave which shows an unnamed emperor bowing to an enthroned Christ.
This architectural triumph of Aya Sofia was built over an
older religious construction that was built here after the Nika riots of 532
AD. It was a symbol of a double victory of Christianity and the Byzantine
empire.
And yes, its not just Babri Masjid that we need to be
fighting and killing each other over. Most holy places that were run over by
another tribe/ clan of different faith, each of them definitely felt the need
to redefine the older religious structure and make it relevant to their faith.
This, so that the reestablishment of the now new faith is made easier, and
transformation from the earlier faith becomes easier for people who have long
been worshipping at the place, either reluctantly or by force now. Climb upto
the fort at Lonavala and find a makbara on top is just one of such example. But
let me emphasize this- whatever the faith of the victor, deep down faith,
respect and an innate fear of God ensures that the central sanctum sanctorum
was never disturbed. That was considered to unleash the wrath of God.
