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.