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Eid, Dargah Sharif and Ajmer

24 November 2011 15 Comments

Eid, Dargah Sharif and Ajmer An experience to remember.
In Ajmer my first stop is Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s Dargah, popularly known as Dargah Sharif and is one of the places to visit in Ajmer. I have read all along right through school to now that the people of all religions hold the Sufi saint in high esteem. Being a day dreamer, I actually look forward to the place with a Sufi song “Khwaja mere Khwaja, dil mein sama ja” playing in the back of my mind ! :)
Qawwali, the famous Sufi singing, is a common sight here.

It being at a walking distance from the station, I walk through small lanes full of shops and reach a place where it joins a larger road and on one end is the huge gate of Dargah.

Dargah sharif @lemonicks.com

Main gate of Dargah Sharif.

People and noise, just two things in front of the entrance. Almost all are carrying trays of flowers and Chadars to offer at the Dargah and want to take their pictures clicked with the tray of offerings.

Footwear, cameras and bags are not allowed inside the Dargah for security reasons. There are rows of shops selling flowers and chadars, each beckoning me to keep my stuff with them. I know that in return I would have to buy something from them but I feel my stuff would be safe. I select a shop and do the needful.

Dargah sharif @lemonicks.com

Shops selling nicely decorated trays of flowers.

While going towards the gate, I keep wondering if it is like this every day or is something special today. Being on the road for several days now, I do not know which day is today. Then I begin to understand as I overhear a couple of friends hugging and greeting with Eid Mubarak.

Am I not lucky to have chosen this very day to visit the shrine ?

There are lot of shops and buildings within the premises. It also has two very big cauldrons for donations.
Then I see a sight and almost faint. There is a small door to the room in which Khwaja’s remains are enshrined. People have to enter and exit from the same doorway. I am not sure if I would make it through.
Though there is a queue, it becomes an utter chaos much before it reaches the door. After all your tour to India is not complete without visiting this shrine in Ajmer. With tray on my head I join one of the “queues”, all along being pushed & shoved forward, reminds me of local trains in my city Mumbai.

Dargah sharif @lemonicks.com

Washing area with marble stools fixed to the floor.

I pass on my tray to the priest he does exactly what he has been doing all day long…. throwing it on the shrine. I am not sure I like what I saw. I see a lot of people returning and exiting immediately from the same doorway. This I believe is one of the reasons for the chaos. There is a separate exit for devotees to go thru, but the sheer crowd makes all systems useless.
A good crowd management will make the experience of the millions of devotees more comfortable.
There are a lot of people scattered and sitting on the floor, many of them taking pictures with their mobile. They seem to say, “Cameras are not allowed, you did not say mobile is not allowed”.
The representatives of the trust also let these mobile shutterbugs have a field day. After a bit of hesitation I too whip out my own and click some shots. :)
Dargah sharif @lemonicks.com

People rest after offering the prayers in the shrine.

P.S.- Don’t you think my mobile phone camera is awesome? :)

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15 Comments »

  • Samaresh Biswal said:

    Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti call me soon

    # 24 November 2011 at 5:41 PM
  • Siddhartha Joshi said:

    Hey Neha…you actually stole the title of my next post :) )) And guess what…we were there on the same day, though I went there in the evening! We really should have bumped into each other…

    I will have to now seriously rework on the content, otherwise it would look like a rip-off from your blog :D

    # 24 November 2011 at 8:06 PM
  • Siddhartha Joshi said:

    And yes, your mobile phone is awesome :)

    # 24 November 2011 at 8:06 PM
  • Anu said:

    great! u got to visit ajmer on Id!!! we went on a normal day and it was just as crowded! but i still loved the place.. at least once we were out of that maddening crowd rushing in and out! nice pics too, esp from the mob!

    # 24 November 2011 at 8:13 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Samaresh,
    Amen!

    @Siddhartha,
    Is it a sheer luck or something else that we missed each other by a whisker everytime?

    And change your content. Haven’t you heard, “Ladies first”? :P

    # 25 November 2011 at 12:57 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Anu,
    Oh, and I thought the crowd is because of Eid !
    Thanks, my cellphone camera is good.

    # 25 November 2011 at 12:58 AM
  • Arti said:

    Lucky you, Nisha. I have been there several times but never clicked any pics inside the dargah. Certainly, your phone camera looks nice…

    # 25 November 2011 at 6:35 AM
  • Niranjan said:

    Lovely captures from your phone. Nice post Nisha.

    # 25 November 2011 at 11:39 AM
  • Israr said:

    ahan…so you have a lovely time on Eid and visit to the Dargah sharif… yes you are right…any visit to India without visiting Ajmer Sharif would be incomplete i guess…i hope someday i would be able to visit india and all the beautiful places there :)

    # 25 November 2011 at 11:43 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Arti,
    :)
    I saw others doing so maine socha beheti Ganga mein haath dho liya jaye. :D
    Thank you for the phone camera.

    # 25 November 2011 at 12:46 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Israr,
    Yes, I was there on the auspicious day ! Before that I didn’t even realize why sea of humanity was going in that direction. It is a very soothing place. Would love to go there again.

    Actually I wrote a very long post on Dargah Sharif detailing everyting but had to cut down drastically.

    # 25 November 2011 at 12:47 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Niranjan,
    Thank you.

    # 25 November 2011 at 12:59 PM
  • magiceye said:

    thank you for all the lovely pics
    we missed visiting it because our president ms.patil was visiting and we mere mortals were not allowed..

    # 26 November 2011 at 9:16 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Magiceye,
    Awww, that’s bad. What’ll she do there? Damn with VIP visits.

    # 26 November 2011 at 9:39 AM
  • Le Monde – A Poetic Travail » Blog Archive » The Year That Was 2011 said:

    [...] Ajmer. Visiting Dargah Sharif was a soothing experience. [...]

    # 21 January 2012 at 9:25 AM

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