AJMER: A pair of centuries-old drums, called shaziyane nakkare, was sounded as part of a ceremony meant only for visiting heads of states, kings and queens when President Asif Ali Zardari stepped into the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti here on Sunday afternoon.

It is not possible to describe in words the spiritual ecstasy that I have experienced here today. May Allah melt all our hardships away, read the remarks written by Mr Zardari in the visitors’ log book.

“They asked for a mention in the prayers for Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s departed soul, and (for) peace between India and Pakistan,” said Syed Jaan Mohammad Chishti, in-charge of the shrine.

In 2003, Ms Bhutto had prayed at the shrine for Mr Zardari’s release from prison, vowing to return as soon as the wish was granted.

She was back in 2005 with Mr Zardari by her side.

“I am here for her (Benazir’s) sake,” the attendant cleric quoted Mr Zardari, accompanied by members of his family, as saying.

A group of the shrine’s caretakers guided the first family their way between dozens of haphazardly-lain smaller tombs, which one must not step on.

Among them, a lanky 53-year-old sufi priest, Iqbal Kaptan, stood out as the Bhutto family’s ‘resident representative’ at the shrine. Mr Kaptan had previously led prayers for Ms Bhutto.

It is customary for devotees to summon the services of a sufi priest who is believed to have the ability to intervene and plead for fulfilment of wishes. Mr Kaptan got that honour when Ms Bhutto picked him, according to the official of shrine.

“When I showed Bilawal the lines his mother had penned in appreciation of my services, he was in tears,” said Mr Kaptan.—Agencies