The World of Khwaja

Ajmer, Rajasthan, is situated at the foot of an 800-feet high mountain, on the top of which is built Taragarh Fort. Ajmer has a glorious history, and natural beauty. It was in Ajmer that Khawaja Muinuddin Chishti laid the permanent foundation of Islam in India in 1192 A.D. by his spiritual powers and peaceful preaching. The Khawaja Saheb’s Dargah, in which lays in peace Khawaja Muinuddin Chishti, attracts millions of people every year who seek spiritual blessings of the great saint.

We left for Ajmer via Ajmer Shatabdi from New Delhi Railway Station and reached Ajmer, after six & a half hours long journey passing through Delhi Cantt., Gurgaon, Alwar and Jaipur. 

Clock Tower Near Ajmer Railway Station

After reaching Ajmer, our first priority became the safety for our baggage. So, we started searching for a nearby place to keep our bags. We found Lodhi lodge, about a kilometer away from the railway station. They provided us a room to keep our baggage, and also allowed us to use our personal locks.

Dargah Sharif is just one kilometer behind the Lodhi lodge. So we hurried towards it and reached the main Dargah Bazar by 2 PM. There is a maze of shops in the dargah bazaar. As a common scenery of every temple, mosque or gurudwara in India, there were many beggars around the mosque. Our hearts melt at the moment looking at their state of depravity and poverty. We prayed to God for their betterment and moved on towards the dargah. We bought flowers, rose essence, prashad, and chaadar from a nearby shop as offerings we were going to offer inside the dargah. Keeping in mind the sanctity of the place we left our shoes in the safety of the shop keeper.

Gates of the Dargah Sharif

Inside the Dargah Sharif

Being Friday (Jum-e-raat), there was an immense crowd wanting to pray to the messenger of god. When we entered the main gate we were told that gates of main dargah were closed and were to reopen at 4 PM. There was already a long que in front of the gate. Finally, the gates opened and the people rushed to get in. All queues were bypassed and like a swarm of flies, everybody blocked the entrance. Finally we were able to go inside. We offered our gifts to the priests and prayed for the prosperrity of our family, and thanked Khwaja for giving us a chance to get his blessings.

After finishing our prayers we went to Adhai din ka Jhonpra. 

Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra

One of the oldest and most interesting historical building of Ajmer, is Jama Al-tamish popularly known as Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra, situated at Ankerkot at the foot of the Taragarh hill. It is said that Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti himself, who came to Ajmer in 587 A. H., offered his prayers here for a considerable time during his life. The legend has it, that this mosque took 2 ½ days to be built and some also say it was built around the 2 ½ days festival that took place at that time.


Just outside Adhai din ka Jhonpra, there was a taxi stand. The taxis took pilgrims to closest tourist places like Taragrah fort, Pushkar etc. We decided to drop the idea of going to Taragrah Fort which was on a height requiring one whole day for the visit. We hired a taxi for Ajmer site seeing & drop out at Pushkar. We picked up our luggage from Lodhi Lodge. During the journey we visited Jain temple, and the Ana sagar lake. Jain Temple is very beautiful, divine and pure.

Jain Temple, Ajmer

Upon entering the temple we were shrouded by the aura of calmness. The temple perfectly displayed the simplicity and purity of its religion. 

From there we went to the Ana sagar lake. 

A view of the Ana sagar lake.

The island situated in the middle of the lake.

It is a captivating view, with mild cool breeze blowing through our hair. The lake has been provided with boating facilities, of which we took the full advantage. We took a ride on the boat and enjoyed the natural view. There were many marble structures along the shores adding to the beauty. Taking our leave from the lake we headed towards Pushkar.

It took 45 mins from the lake to reach Pushkar. We searched for a hotel near by the Lord Brahma’s temple. 

Lord Bhrama's Mandir

We rested in the hotel for the night, and the next morning we bought flowers, gulab itra, prashad etc. and went to the temple. It is said that it is the only temple of Lord Brahma in the world. After offering our prayers to the lord we went to Lord Vishnu’s temples. The old temple looks historical and worn down by time and nature.A few meters away from the old temple, a new temple of Lord Vishnu was there. Magnificent and mesmerizing, the new temple was a gift from devotees to the god.

Lord Vishnu's New Temple, Pushkar

After the temples we wished to explore the area a bit and by luck, we found a beautiful Gurudwara. 

The main market, near the gurudwara, is one single road length, from the Lord Bearhma’s till the Gurudwara. After taking blessings from the Gods it was time to feed our tummy.  We ate Rajasthani Daal-Baati at one of the dhabaas near the temple. Without realizing the difference in traditional spice mixture to the one we liked, we ate the daal baatis and so we came out washing our eyes and nose. Still, it was delicious. Regardless, the typical rajasthani Thaali which we got in Ajmer in Lodha’s restaurant was missing here.

We then went to Pushkar Lake. It is a very large water spread with 52 ghaats, built by different Kings.

One of the 52 Ghaats.

Lord Brahma;s ghaat where the main pooja happens

The main ghaat was devoted to Lord Brhma. We went to the Brahma’s Ghaat and worshipped the Pushkar Lake. It is said that main pooja is of the Lake, which fulfils all your wishes. Our tour just wasn’t over yet, we were headed towards the Savitri mandir. But, again when we saw the height, our old worn down bodies bowed their heads from a distance, apologizing for our inability to visit, and prayed for good health.

We checked out of the hotel by 11 AM (their standard checkout time) and reached Ajmer. We still had some time left as our return Shatabdi was at 3.45 PM. We again went to Dargah and adhai din ka jhonpra. We looked for a place to satisfy the energy house of our bodies, a better place to eat Rjasthani food, but found none.

On return journey we got down at Delhi Cantt railway station (Closest to our house) and returned to our old life of routine. 

Chintpurni Temple visit

 CHINTPURNI MATA KI JAI

Our journey to the center of the soul begins with the temple of MA CHINTPURNI. Chintpurni Mata is known by many native names two of them being, Chinnamastika Devi and Chinnmasta Devi.

The temple, also known as The Chintpurni shakti peeth (Chhinnamastika shakti peeth), is located at Amb Tehsil in the district of Una, Himachal Pradesk. The temple, located 3 km west of Bharwain village, is a serene place surrounded by the Western Himalayas from the north and east. The divinity of the place is inexplicable. It is a part of the 7 major and 44 other Shakti Peeths of India.

THE START

We started our journey from Old Delhi Station. One of the oldest buildings in Delhi. The nearest metro station is Chandi Chowk metro station.

We were to board the Himachal Express, with daily departure at 10:55 P.M. We boarded the train safely and took our leave with consciousness till next morning. We headed for Amb Andura, our next destination and terminal point of Himachal Express.

AMB ANDURA

We reached Amb Andura by at 8:35 A.M. next morning.  The train journey got us a happy encounter with a lovely couple, Anil Jetwar and his wife Neeru Jetwar. They belonged to Delhi and were also frequent visitors to chintpurni. After exchanging our travel experiences, we planned to tag along with them for the rest of the trip. From there we were to reach Chintpurni. We had multiple options from there. Public transport is easily available outside the station at Amb Andura. There are Auto Rikshaws that charge Rs. 10 per person for a drop to the bus stand. From there we could have boarded a bus which charged around Rs. 25 per person for Chintpurni. The four of us chose to share a taxi which charged us a decent Rs. 400 for the trip.

CHINTPURNI

On reaching Chintpurni, we started searching for a roof over our heads. We took a simple room in Hotel Vishwamitra. Being an off-season visit they charged us around Rs. 300 per day. We rested till 1 P.M. in the afternoon and then resumed our journey. We rounded all the items we brought from Delhi to offer to the goddess. We also bought some prasad(halwa), a coconut, mala and some ghee from the local sweet shop, Soodan Di Hatti, near the temple. We left our footwear there, under the owner's care. We saw the waiting line from there. It wasn't very long and hence, we hoped for a quick admission inside the temple.

THE CHINNAMASTIKA TEMPLE
We were able to move along the line and reach the temple within half an hour. We climbed the stairs and entered the temple. We then saw the statue of the goddess and prayed for our, as well our family's well being. 

We then offered our gifts and requested the Pandit for parsad and holy snan water. We waited in the langar bhavan, after some time the pandit brought us a water bottle filled with the snan water. As we moved further into the temple, we were awe struck by its beauty and magnificence. 
While we were waiting for the pandit to return, we saw another goddess right beside Chintpurni Mata. This was a statue of Durga Mata installed in a glass box. The beautiful white marble statue was enough to mesmerize the viewer for hours. 

Right beside the statue there is a big brass bell. It is said that once that brass bell was established there, by Emperor Akbar, in the temple, nobody was able to move it from its place from there.

Just in front of the Durga Ma statue we saw a peepal tree inside the premises of the temple. The pujari told us that people tie a cloth piece around one of branches of the tree and wish for something they desire. Their desires may be fulfilled by the goddess in near future and once they are fulfilled, the people have to re-visit the temple to untie their knot. This marks the completeness of the ritual.

We then proceeded to do the same. We hoped, we might soon get a chance to untie our knots as well.
After Completion of puja, we retuned to Soodan di Hatti  once again. We then offered prasad and gifts to nine kanjakas. A kanjak is a girl child below the age of ten, representing one of the nine deities of Navdurga. We then ate our share of the prasad, wore our footwear again and started to exit the place. 
It is said that prasad from Chintpurni mata is not carried to other mata temples, so it is supposed to be finished there. The reason behind this is said to be that Chintpurni mata is youngest of all nine deities, and hence, her prasad is not carried to the temples of Jwalamukhi devi, Chamunda devi, Kangra devi, and Naina devi etc.

Now it was time to exit the temple with peace of mind and soul. We said our goodbyes and left for our merry ways.

Left Corner : Me, Left : My Husband (Mr. Naveen Jhanjee), Right : Mr. Anil Jetwar, Right Corner : Mrs Neeru Jetwar

After we left the temple, we looked for a place to sit and relax for a few minutes, by luck, we found ourselves one.

Me

My Husband

It was right in front of the police booth. There we tried Laddu and Urad Daal Halwa. The Laddu there were pretty different from the ones that we find in Delhi. It was a sweet and chilly dish. After that we tasted Chana Bhatura. It was pretty good as well.

At around 5 p.m., we took a bus to Amb from Chintpurni bus stand. At Amb bus-stand we went to a sweet shop named sharma sweet shop. There we had some very delicious Pakoras, Besan barfi, Rasgulla and Gulab Jamun. The prices of every dish there, were also 40% less than the prices of the same in Delhi. Then we took an auto rickshaw and set for the railway station which was around 2 km from bus stand.

AMB ANDURA(TAKE 2)

We reached the station and had to board the Himachal express, again, which was already ready to depart @ 8.10 P.M. Himachal Express is the last train from that station. We reached just in time.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES BACK AROUND

We reached Old Delhi station by 5:35 A.M. next morning and took a rickshaw for the Chandani Chowk Metro Station. 

Our overall experience of the trip was pretty amazing. It turned out to be a happiness trip rather than a holy trip.