Wishing on a Djinn in Delhi

Believers pray, make offerings and ask for wishes to be granted by Djinns in the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, India on November 20. The 13.1-metre high column, made of polished sandstone and dating from the 3rd Century BC, was brought from Ambala in 14th century AD under orders of Feroz Shah. It was installed on a three-tiered arcaded pavilion near the congregational mosque, inside the Sultanate’s fort. In centuries that followed, much of the structure and buildings near it were destroyed as subsequent rulers dismantled them and reused the spolia as building materials. Simon de Trey-White

A Muslim woman prays for her wishes to be granted by Djinns in the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, India. Simon de Trey-White

People have been coming to Firoz Shah Kotla to leave written notes and offerings for Djinns in the hopes of getting wishes granted since the late 1970’s. Simon de Trey-White

A Muslim boy lights a candle as an offering for his wishes to be granted by Djinns in the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, India. Simon de Trey-White

Votive candles burn with photocopied requests left by believers to Djinns in the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, India. Simon de Trey-White

Feroz Shah Kotla is the remains of a fortified city built by Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century.

For six days a week it is one of the lesser monuments of Delhi, notable mostly for the ruins of a mosque in the grounds and a pristine obelisk called the Ashoka Pillar.

On Thursday evenings the fort becomes a place of pilgrimage.

Thousands come to ask Djinn spirits, believed to be present, to grant their wishes.

Their devotions – as chronicled by Delhi-based photographer Simon de Trey-White – take the form of offerings and handwritten requests placed in the stones of the buildings, which, over the years, have become blackened by candle and incense smoke.

Many people visit all the chambers, which are supposed to have a Djinn living in each of them.

Worship of Djinns at the fort dates back to the 1970s and remains as popular today as it was then.