Dargah – Geometry of faith: PMA Madhushala

At Sultan Baba’s Dargah, belief and geometry came together in a humble structure shaped by collective faith. While studying load-bearing systems rooted in pure geometry and gravity, we were approached by a friend to build a “Deool” (as the villagers called it) for the revered Sufi saint who had taken samadhi there. His mother had long wished to build a shrine above samadhi, which was only a modest structure then, but still it drew devotees of all faiths. The villagers shared a unique belief—that Sultan Baba did not wish for a complete roof above him. Responding to this, we designed a dome with an oculus, allowing an open view of the sky. The form—an octagon within a square—drew from Persian architectural traditions, relying on arches and squinches for its self-supporting structure. Built with exposed local bricks, the construction remained minimal and grounded. This illustration brings the entire project together in one frame—capturing not just the structure, but its spirit. Its tone and subtlety evoke the sensibility of traditional drawings, where architecture wasn’t fragmented into parts, but understood as a unified whole.

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