Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Takhat Nashini means the ceremonial installation of the Imam, which is celebrated soon after the assumption of the Imamate. It indicates that when one Imam dies, his successor manifests as an Imam. The historical celebration was held in great solemnity and the devotion and the enthusiasm of the Ismailis knew no bounds. The first ceremonial Takhat Nashini of the Present Imam commemorated in Dar-es-Salaam on Saturday, October 19, 1957 amid great pomp and splendour, attended by 30,000 Ismailis.

The site on which Upanga Jamatkhana presently stands was the venue of the first of a number of similar Takhat Nashini ceremonies. It was from the early hours of the morning that Ismailis had started to make their way to the ceremonial site, and by noon-time the ground was packed to bursting point. In the gaily festooned grandstands, leaders of the community in their gold turbans and crimson robes moved about the crowd and looked as colourful as their womenfolk in flowering saris of a hundred shades, lavishly embroidered with gold and silver thread and sparkling diamante. The houses around the venue provided wonderful grandstand view of the whole proceedings. Their decorated balconies were packed with people, and many more stood and sat on the roof tops, unmindful of any dangers.

Mata Salamat Umm Habibeh, Prince Aly S. Khan and Princess Tajudawla were given a rousing welcome as they came and took their seats. President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Governor and Lady Twinning, Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Colonial Secretary of Zanzibar, Sir Bruce and Lady Hutt, Mayor of Dar-es-Salaam, the Liwali, Councillors and many other prominent people were among the distinguished guests.

Clad in a white high-necked tunic and black trousers, the Present Imam made his gracious arrival in a thunderous applause and shouts of Nara-e-takbir