Historic Bibi-ka-Alam Procession Set for Friday in Hyderabad's Old City

The historic, centuries-old Bibi-ka-Alam procession is scheduled to take place this Friday in Hyderabad's Old City, traversing a five-kilometer route from Dabeerpura to Chaderghat. The grand procession, which carries a sacred relic honoring Bibi Fatima, is expected to draw thousands of mourners and devotees from across the country to observe the prominent Muharram event.

According to Syed Hamed Hussain Jaffery of the Telangana Shia Youth Conference, the origins of the Bibi-ka-Alam trace back to the Qutb Shahi era. The wife of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah originally installed the alam in memory of Bibi Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Mohammed, at Golconda. During the Asaf Jahi period, the sacred standard was shifted to a specially constructed Bibi-ka-Alawa in Dabeerpura, where it continues to be housed today.

The alam contains a sacred relic believed to be a fragment of the wooden plank on which Bibi Fatima received her final ablution before burial. Tradition holds that the relic reached Golconda from Karbala in present-day Iraq during the reign of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah. The standard is adorned with six diamonds and other precious jewels donated by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, with the ornaments preserved in black pouches attached to the alam.

The Ashura procession will commence around noon from Bibi-ka-Alawa and proceed through traditional routes before culminating at Chaderghat in the evening. The Bibi-ka-Alam will be carried on a caparisoned elephant and accompanied by thousands of barefoot and bare-chested mourners representing nearly 50 anjumans from Hyderabad and other parts of the country.

Along the nearly five-kilometer route, the procession will halt at several significant landmarks. The first stop will be at the Ashoorkhana Khadam-e-Rasool, where the footprints of Prophet Mohammed are displayed. It will then proceed to Peeli Gate at Purani Haveli, where a member of the Nizam family traditionally offers a dhatti to the alam.

The third halt will be at Alawa-e-Sartouq Mubarak near Darulshifa playground, where women mourners participate in matam, followed by a stop at Azakhana Zehra for another ceremonial offering. Following the main alam, numerous smaller alams known as Tabarrukat will be carried on camels or by devotees on foot to represent the martyrs of the Karbala tragedy.