Beyond the Sand Dunes

Apart from the known tourist hotspots of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, Ajmer and Pushkar are gaining on the popularity charts too. N K Agarwal describes his visit to these two cities.

- N K Agarwal

When one talks about tourism in Rajasthan, one only imagines it as a desert state. What immediately comes to mind are places like Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer. But hold on! There is much more to see in Rajasthan. Ajmer and Pushkar are two places that present a very different side of the state. Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in Rajasthan. The city was established as ‘Ajayameru’ (invincible hills) by Shakambhari Chahamana (Chauhan). Ajmer is surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains. Following is a description of some of the places worth a visit.

Ajmer Sharif Dargah

There is an old saying that people who visit Ajmer Sharif and pray with pure faith and loyalty at his Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti Dargah get all their wishes fulfilled and find peace of mind and soul. The Dargah Khawaja Gharib Nawaz has several tombs, buildings, ‘daalaans’ and courtyards built in the Mughal style of architecture. The shrine has Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti’s grave. The white marble dome of this shrine was built in 1532. The canopy made of mother-of-pearl and silver and the ceiling are etched with gold and in 1888 the walls were gilded.

The dargah has a royal darbar and a large courtyard where religious functions are held and ‘qawwalis’ are sung. There is also a ‘langar khana’. The ‘langar’ (food for the devotees) of the shrine is prepared in two huge cooking cauldrons with rice, ghee, cashew nuts, almonds and raisins. It is very interesting to see pilgrims coming from far and wide and offering a ‘chador’ (sacred colorful cloth sheet decorated with lots of rose petals) and keeping it all the way on their heads to the shrine. leading Urdu singers visit the shrine often to sing qawwalis the whole night.