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History of Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb in Mehrauli, Delhi, is a historic complex that dates back to the 16th century in what has been known as “The City of Djinns”. Delhi is believed to be home to many Djinns, who reside in the city’s ancient buildings, tombs, and ruins. The complex was built by the Sufi saint Jamali in 1528-1529, who was a traveling poet known for his Persian spiritual teachings and miraculous powers in the Lodi Dynasty.

**The City of Djinns:** Arches of Jamali Kamali Mosque, Mehrauli, Delhi.// Source: Abhishek Khanna/ Wikimedia

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from India

Jamali or Shaikh Fazlu’llah was a disciple of the famous Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya and is believed to have been a contemporary of Mughal emperor Akbar.

The complex consists of a mosque, a tomb, and a courtyard, and was built during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

The mosque and tomb are built in the traditional Indo-Islamic architectural style and are adorned with intricate carvings and beautiful calligraphy. The mosque has a central dome and two minarets, while the tomb is a square-shaped structure with a flat roof. The courtyard is surrounded by arched colonnades and is a peaceful oasis in the heart of Mehrauli.

After Jamali died in 1535, he was buried in the tomb.

Kamali that is buried in the tomb with him was an unknown person. We know he was male because of the symbolic pen box on his grave and that he was one of Jamali’s disciples. Historians are unsure about their relationship and have called Kamali both his brother, wife or companion. Because of how their graves are places, it also implies that they were lovers.

Legends and Myths Associated with Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue for centuries. The complex is said to be haunted by the spirits of Jamali and Kamali, who are believed to have supernatural powers. There are many legends and myths associated with the complex, which add to its enigmatic appeal.

Read also: Check out Khonsuemheb and the Ghost of Theban Necropolis or The Haunted Tomb of General Yuan for more ghost stories about haunted tombs.

One of the most popular legends associated with Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb is that it was the site of a love affair between Jamali and Kamali, something that the placements of the graves have suggested.

Haunted Stories of Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb is said to be one of the most haunted places in Delhi. Many people have reported paranormal activity in the complex, including sightings of ghosts or Djinns.

People have claimed to have seen strange lights and shadows in the tomb and heard something that sounds like an animal growling at them or laughing voices.

There is also a feeling of someone standing right next to them, or thinking that someone is looking at them behind the pillars, but when going to investigate, there is nothing there.

**Mehrauli Park:** By daylight i is a nice and green park to spend time in. When darkness falls however, it is said that Djinns are haunting the park and especially the Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb seen in he background. // Source: Varun Shiv Kapur/Flickr

Perhaps worst is it for those that have felt an unknown force slapping them that leaves tiny hand marks on their faces for days. This is said to happen especially during the night when the park is supposed to be locked and no one is supposed to be there.

Who is to say who is right, as people claim that what they have heard is real, while others say the stories are just made up.

A story told through Vice claims that a woman was in the park after dark, when she felt something sinister coming after her. The following six months she woke up 3 in the morning every night and saw a hand on the glass of the ventilator placed above the door to her balcony.

This experience took a toll on her mental health until she left her job and moved to another city when the episodes stopped. Whether this was because she changed her life or because she managed to shake the djinns off, who is to say?

The Enduring Legacy of Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb is a fascinating and enigmatic landmark that has captured the imagination of people for centuries. Is it Jamali who is still haunting his own tomb? Could it be Kamali, whose name is just something given to locals as it rhymed with Jamali. What were they really to each other? A teacher and student? Lovers? Today there are more rumors than answers.

While the complex is said to be haunted, it is also a peaceful oasis in the heart of the bustling city and is a popular tourist attraction. But just to be safe, it is said you should get out of the park when you hear the call to evening prayer, The maghrib adhan, before dark, so you don’t bring any djinns with you home.

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References:

Featured Image: Anupamg / Wikimedia

What Happened When I Spent a Night at a Haunted Place

Jamali Kamali The Haunted Mosque of Delhi – BikingMystery

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb Delhi – History & Haunted Story – Adotrip

The story of Delhi’s Jamali Kamali mosque and why people think it’s haunted | Times of India Travel

Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb – Wikipedia

The Normalising of Ghosts in Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death, and in the book “Book of the Dead”, they wrote down a series of spells they thought would help them reach the afterlife. The people living at the time thought of the afterlife as a sort of continuation of life were it would be paradise to end up in. So why on earth do we still have ghost stories of people that never reach this perfect afterlife?

In ancient Egypt ghosts (called akh) were somewhat similar to their former self, more a piece of the soul of the living person, the immortal and transformed part of the soul. Interactions between ghosts and living people were seen in a lesser supernatural way than in modern depictions, just as the ghost in Khonsuemheb and the Ghost was more of a task to be handled than something unnatural happening.

**Anubis God of Lost Souls:** is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head. If the family didn’t do the funeral rites correctly or were cheap with the money, the Gods would sort of grant the part of the soul, the akh permission to go back and complain and haunt the family or its grave.

The akh was a consequence of the burial ritual not being right, the tomb being destroyed or so forth. This ritual was important as it was the way into the afterlife. An akh could harm the living, giving them nightmares, feelings of guilt, punish people or sickness. But it could also do good deeds to help their living family members, influencing for the better etc.

As well as coming on their own volition, they could be invoked by prayers or written letters left in the tomb’s offering chapel, just like what happened in Khonsuemheb and the Ghost.

Read Also: If graves or tombs are not well kept, bad things can happen. Read about The Haunted Barbie Doll in The Shrine and how they take care of that ghosts final resting place.

The Story of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost

The beginning of the story is lost forever, as it being a fragment of some pottery. So the full length of it, is nowhere to be found. But it is implied the story is set in Theban Necropolis, a burial place near the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.

The burial city was built at the west bank of the Nile, near the ancient city of Thebes, which at the time was the capital and the perhaps even the biggest city in the world at that time. The ruins of the city lies within the modern day city, Luxor, in Upper Egypt. At this time in the New Kingdom, Thebes reached new height of prosperity. It was the time right before the decline of the great city, and it would soon fall into unrest, strikes, looting of the Necropolises.

**Ruins of Medinet Habu** (Arabic: مدينة هابو) is an archaeological locality situated near the foot of the Theban Hills of the River Nile opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt. it is the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. This is where the ruins of Thebes can be found.

The Servant in the Place of Truth

But before all this, a man had to spend the night next to a tomb in the Theban Necropolis, literally meaning the city of the dead. He is unnamed in the fragment of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost. Perhaps he was just walking by, perhaps he was a looter. Perhaps he was a Servant in the Place of Truth. That was an ancient Egyptian title of the people working in the Necropolis.

The servants in the Place of Truth constructed the eternal dwelling of the kings, and isolated themselves to safeguard their secrets. They lived in the village Set-Maat (Place of truth) in the Holy Land of the Dead, today known as Deir el-Medina. The village that happens to be were the last bit of fragment of the story was found.

**A Night at Thebes Necropolis**: The man in the story spent the night in the desolated place of Theban Necropolis, a place outside of today’s Luxor in Egypt. //Source: wikimedia

The man was woken by the ghost residing in the tomb. Was he afraid? Perhaps not if he worked there. Perhaps he was terrified, especially if he was a looter, trying to steal the possessions in the tomb. In any case, he went to the High Priest of Amun, Khonsuemheb, and told what happened in the tomb.

The High Priest Invoking the Ghost

The High Priest of Amun, takes matters into his own hands. He stands on his rooftop, calling to the gods to summon the ghost. Invoking the gods of the sky and the gods of the earth, southern, northern, western and eastern, and (the) gods of the underworld, saying to them: “Send me that august spirit.” And it does. “I grew, and I did not see the rays of the sun. I did not breathe the air, but darkness was before me every day, and no one came to find me,” the ghost says (translation by Maspero).

Khonsuemheb asks his name. Nebusemekh, son of Ankhmen and of the lady Tamshas, the ghost answers. So how does one please an ancient egyptian ghost? Khonsuemheb at least offered to rebuild his tomb, making it better with a gildet ziziphus-wood coffin to make peace with the ghost. But the ghost doesn’t trust Khonsuemheb and his intentions. So what do they do?

**The Ghost story on the pottery:** Ancient Egyptian ostrakon with the beginning of the Ghost story of of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost. Terracotta from Deir el-Medina, 19-20th Dynasty, New Kingdom. Found by Schiaparelli in 1905. Turin, Museo Egizio.

Khonsuemheb sits down with the ghost, starts to cry and shares his unhappy fate. “I will remain here] without eating or drinking, without growing old or becoming young. I will not see sunlight nor will I inhale northerly breezes, but darkness shall be in my sight every day. I will not get up early to depart.”

Then the ghost proceeds to tell about his life on earth, how he was an overseer of the treasuries and a military official under pharaoh Rahotep. When the ghost, Nebusemekh died in the 14th regnal year of pharaoh Mentuhotep, the ruler gave him a canopic set, an alabaster sarcophagus and a ten-cubits shaft tomb.

But time took over the tomb, and over the centuries, the tomb partially collapsed, allowing wind to reach the burial chamber. Nebusemekh also told Khonsuemheb that others before him offered to rebuild his grave, but never did. Khonsuemheb says to the ghost that he will do it and also offers to send ten servants to make daily offerings at his grave. But the ghost says that wouldn’t be necessary or of any use.

Only Fragments of the Ending Left

Here, the text of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost on the pottery breaks, and in the next fragment three men are sent out by Khonsuemheb to search for a proper place for Nebusemekh new tomb. They find it at Deir el-Bahari, near to the causeway of the mortuary temple belonging to pharaoh Mentuhotep the second.

This is the end, the text suddenly ends here. But perhaps Khonsuemheb honored the last wish of Nebusemekh, giving peace in his afterlife the Egyptians were all so desperate at having.

**The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt:** Egyptian religious doctrines included three afterlife ideologies: belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul. The path to the afterlife for the deceased was a difficult one with gates, doors and pylons located in Duat, the land of the underworld. Ultimately, the immortality desired by ancient Egyptians was reflected in endless lives. By doing worthy deeds in their current life, they would be granted a second life for all of eternity.

The tale of Khonsuemheb and the Ghost is a piece of fragment, written in another era of time entirely and there are of course dispute how much of it is an historical account of something that happened and a cautionary tale of what could happen if the living didn’t honor the dead. And the details of the tale are still open to interpretations. Particularly the identity of the to pharaohs in Nebusemekh’s time, and in the ghost actually got to rest in peace and finally enjoy paradise in the afterlife.