Back in my ancestral village ( it is actually a qasba now a nagar panchayat ) after  38 years. Time travel and it seems to stand still here.
We have come for the burial of my aunt. She of the caustic wit and jovial ways. Had lots of fun in this house where we gathered every Moharrum for Azadari.

May Allah grant jannat to Mrs Sagheera Zaidi.

When Dada built the Imambara he was a young Deputy Collector .

He retired as member board of revenue with title of Khan Bahadur.

But in Jalali it’s still known as Deputy saheb ka Imambara 

Perhaps because he was the first to reach a high govt position in a village of rich jagirdars.

My uncle Syed Haider Abbas Zaidi tells me :
The Zarih was presented by Late Nawab of Rampur to Khan Bahadur Syed Mohd Abbas Zaidi (Deputy Sahib) when he was Reve nue Minister in the Rampur State . The Alams are of pure silver were installed by him. The patkas are of pure zari work

Moharrum was a very important event in our lives and still is. Everyone goes to their villages for it. I go to my sasural now that’s why haven’t been here for so many years. 

We stayed in these rooms on the roof. And it’s here that every ashoor we would do the amaal e ashoora recited by Dadi. So many memories come flooding in .

All of sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, Amma and Baba.

Dadi telling us about Imam Hussain. She was a mohibb e Hussain and would cry on just hearing the martyred Imam’s name. As children we loved to hear stories of Djinn Mamu peeping at Djinn waali masjid from our window

We visit it today

Now it’s fashionable to put chandeliers in homes but for me they r associated with imambaras 

The  imambara attached to the masjid, ready for Moharrum 

In Jalali all matam was done to beat of these naqqaras. Miss that sound in cities

When we went for majlis we would cross this Haveli and go through this chatta 

Jalali was established by Jalaluddin Khilji in reign of Balban. A plaque on the Jama Masjid stating the fact.

Bet 1628-1658) descendants of Shah-e-Hamdan Ameer Kabir Sayyid Ali Hamdani, (our ancestors) came & settled in Jalali

Sayyid Kamaluddin Hamadani, was the first Sayyid to migrate and settle down in Jalali. He then got married to the daughter of Qazi of Jalali.

An important landmark in Jalali is the historic Jama Masjid that is taken care by Sayyids of Jalali. It was built by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban and is over 700 years old. The masjid bears an inscription with the name of Balban dated 665 Hijri or 1267 AD.

The photograph of the mosque and its brief history along with the inscriptions of Sultan Balban, Mohammad Shah and Jalaluddin Akbar was published in the Archaeological Survey of India, 1936. 

The mosque was renovated and rebuilt by Haji Syed Mehdi Ali of Jalali in 1901. 

The original mosque had one dome. 

Two more domes were built by Haji Mehdi Ali who also added a golden kalas on top of each. An account of the contributions of Haji Mehdi Ali is engraved in Persian on the marble stone which forms part of the middle arch of the mosque. 

In 1826, the arch in the middle of the mosque near mimbar was built by Sayyid Ahmed Hussain. An engraved stone just above the arch gives complete details. 

( source Wikipedia)

Aaj waqt kuchh tham sa gaya