Ajmer, apparently founded by the Chauhan dynasty, is known for the Dargah (tomb) of Khwaja Muin-ud-din Chisti (also known as Garib Nawaz, patron of the poor) who was a Sufi saint in the 12th century. The shrine was constructed by Humayun and there are a number of mosques and gates in the complex that were added by Akbar, Shahjahan, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. Apparently Akbar used to visit the shrine every year by foot from Agra. More than 1,25,000 pilgrims visit the shrine every day - visiting the Dargah is a rather intense experience as it is really crowded. There are pilgrims who take offerings – either chaddars or baskets of flowers on their heads. The shrine itself is quite small and one really has to jostle one’s way into it. But outside, in the complex, the atmosphere is slightly calmer – when I went there was a qawwali session going on and I also sat down to enjoy the music which is one of the forms of worship in Sufism. Then it was time for namaaz and the faithful all gathered at the mosque inside the complex to perform the prayers.
The shrine is also visited by Hindus and Sikhs and most pilgrims go there to ask for their wishes to be granted. Well, I asked for a good meal and my wish came true. Just outside the Dargah I stepped into a rather basic restaurant and had a very tasty meal of chicken curry! With such a heavy meal in my stomach, I was in no mood to walk back to my hotel (about 1.5 kms away) so I decided to take a rickshaw from the Dargah. The rickshaw ride was an experience in itself as there was no space at all on the ‘road’ as it was thronging with pilgrims on their way to or back from the Dargah. And the rickshaw puller decided to drive extremely fast – I held on for dear life as he swerved around to avoid the pedestrians – it was like being in a video game - thankfully he didn’t injure anyone even though he scraped quite a few people.
Apart from the Dargah, there are a few other sites in the town. Close by are the ruins and ornate pillars of Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra – initially a Sanskrit college, it was converted into a mosque. Apparently, it was built in 2 ½ days hence the name. I also visited the Ana Sagar lake, an articifical lake - there is not much to see there apart from a few pavilions built during the time of Shahjahan. The place was thronging with weekend crowds and I made a quick exit.
My next stop was the Jain Nasiyan Temple. Inside the temple, in a sealed double storey hall, there is a huge gold model that depicts the Jain concept of the ancient world. Apparently 1000 kilos of gold were used to build this model which consists of replicas of Jain temples from all over India, and also vimanas hanging from the ceiling. Difficult to photograph, but pretty to look at.
On a personal note, in Ajmer, I had a wee camera emergency. I took it out of my back pack to click a photo and the lens cap fell off (that is one complaint I have against Nikon, they don’t have attached lens caps). The cap rolled under a shop and went into a drain (I was on my knees looking for it - in total filmi style, where the drunk hero loses his keys). Since I couldn’t find it in the muck, for the next few hours, I scoured the markets of Ajmer to look for a shop where I could find a replacement cap. Unfortunately I found none. But that was not the end of the camera mishap. In the hotel, my backpack toppled over from the bed and I heard an unpleasant sound – the UV filter had cracked. And now the filter doesn’t come off. I then removed the filter glass and am somehow functioning with a filter cap (without the filter) and without a lens cap! Can’t wait to get to Delhi to (hopefully) sort the mess out.
I had a morning to kill, so my hotel concierge suggested that I visit the Jain temple complex at Nareli, on the outskirts of Ajmer. A bumpy and extremely dusty three-wheeler ride later, I reached the complex and was immediately disappointed. The concierge had mentioned that there are 24 small temples on a hilltop and make for a pretty sight. What he didn’t tell me was that the temple was brand new – I’m a sucker for history so I was disappointed. Nonetheless I made the obligatory visit to the hilltop and clicked some photos but didn’t enter any temples (most of them are still under construction).
My last stop in Ajmer was the Mayo College – the chowkidar asked me which house I was from (assuming that I was an ex-student). When I said that I wasn’t, he said that he wouldn’t let me inside. After a bit of pleading, and pulling some sad faces, he finally relented (rather reluctantly!). The college, founded in 1875, has a beautiful building – I didn’t (couldn’t!) spend too much time there as the chowkidar had allowed me in for only 10 minutes!
From Ajmer, I moved onto Pushkar which is about 12 kms away. The dusty bus ride was extremely uncomfortable – it was hot and crowded – but that was not the reason for the discomfort. A girl standing next to me decided to empty the contents of her stomach using the oral route. Fortunately none of the ‘stuff’ fell on me, my clothes, or my bag. I’m dreading the journey back!
Pushkar is (I didn’t know) supposed to be the fifth holiest place for Hindus. The horse-shoe shaped town is built around a lake (called Pushkar lake, naturally). The town is crawling with foreigners (especially Israeli backpackers), so much so that most shops have multilingual signs (mainly in Hebrew). Most of these foreigners come here for two things: One, a dose of ‘Indian spirituality’ – Pushkar has innumerable temples, ghats, and sadhus and there is an overdose of yoga and ‘spirituality’ classes. Two, a healthy helping of dope. I was there for neither!
The story goes thus: Brahma dropped a lotus flower on Earth and that is where Pushkar lake sprung up. There are countless temples in Pushkar, the most famous being the temple dedicated to Brahma. The story continues: Brahma wanted to conduct a yagna in Pushkar but his wife never showed up. So Brahma decided to marry another woman. Naturally the wife was pissed off. She vowed that Brahma would not be worshipped anywhere else in the world. Ergo this is the only Brahma temple in India.
Like in any other touristy city in India where there are lots of foreign tourists, Pushkar also has its fair share of lechers eyeing white women and those trying to sell anything and anything to these foreigners. Much to my amusement, two guys came up to me, to sell incense, and said, ‘hola amigo, que passa?’ I wanted to reply in chaste Sanskrit (not that I know it) but I kept quiet and moved on. I entered a coffee shop and this fellow came upto me and started speaking in Hebrew. I was looking a bit dishevelled so maybe that is why I was confused for an Israeli backpacker (yikes!). This time I decided to reply in Hindi and that surprised him totally.
The town has 52 ghats along the lake – I visited a few – but didn’t stay for long as one is pestered by pandas who offer to conduct prayers for you (in return for money, of course) and are pretty aggressive. So visiting ghats becomes a chore. And of course, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen all.
One of the days I was there, was Ganpati Visarjan day so there were lots of processions in town which made for a rather colourful sight. And because of the crowds I almost missed the best that Pushkar has to offer – Signor Kikasso. He’s a sikh painter who calls himself ‘Kikasso: India’s Picasso’. He was quite endearing. Not at all aggressive about his art – he didn’t bother that I wasn’t interested in his art but just wanted to chat up with him. He showed me a folder that had a print out of google searches on his (famous?) name.
On a negative note, I found Pushkar to be quite dirty – since cows have complete freedom to roam the place (Hindu holy place, remember?), the streets are full of their liberal droppings. That makes walking in town a pretty unpleasant experience. More so if it rains when you’re there!
I was planning a trip to Varanasi, now I’m having second thoughts.
