My Visit of Ajmer

Mohit Arora (New Delhi)
Visited: November 26th, 2001

We all friends planned for our Rajasthan tour during the month of November as then only our mid-term exams finished and lots many free days were there in our store. We opted for a train journey, as it was more comfortable and entertaining, throughout way the train was throng with venders, fruit sellers, hot coffee/tea, snacks etc, it was all fun. We arrived at Ajmer railway station and preferred a low budget hotel - not much keen to spend more on our accommodation, luckily we got one, sufficiently furnished with all comforts. Next day early in the morning we decided to visit and explore the city on our own, we visited Mata Sati Temple dedicated to the sati goddess and by pass the Aravalli Mountains, there was a complete change in the picturesque scenery, the landscape was full of rocky mountains and lush greenery.

After that we climbed our way up the hill to the imperial Circuit House. It was a beautiful British Resident during the British regime, from there we enjoyed a panoramic view of the Anna Sagar Lake. This was the place where President Musharraf (Pakistan's President) was suppose to stay when he visited India, but due to the failure of talks between two countries the program was canceled. I remembered as we came down the hill we enjoyed a wholesome and utterly delicious Marwari lunch- putting lot of calories at one time.

What enthralled me most was Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti's Dargah of a Sufi Saint- making Ajmer an important pilgrim center of Muslims, next to Mecca Madina. The place was throng with devotees from all over the world. In fact, the place was a good example of Hindus and Muslims unity, both visit the dargah, attaining a boon and amity of mind. The priest gave us the blessings, there I was overwhelmed by the feeling of spiritualism and had a strong feeling that- like all other religions, Islam too preaches peace and harmony. We left the dargah with a sense of high esteem, fortunate enough to get a subliminal image of the true spirit of Islam.

Our next destination was Pushkar-11km, the most popular excursion from Ajmer. The city is famous for some of the beautiful temples dedicated to Brahma the Creator of Universe and also for its Pushkar Mela- the biggest cattle fair in the country that is held there every year in the month of November. We took a local transport that took almost 30 minutes to reach the place. We were lucky to participate in this fair, thousand of men and women throng from all over Rajasthan and other nearby places to buy and sell camels and cattle. It was just a magnificent sight, camel's embellished with colorful attires and decorated with heavy jewelry. We all guys also participated in their cultural dances performed by the local artisans. I was able to store some of these moments of fun in my camera. Later we visited the famous Brahma temple, one of the only two temples dedicated to Brahma. Pious Hindus believe that it is essential to visit this shrine at least once in their lifetime to attain 'Mokesha'.

Well, we assuredly attained salvation for ourselves by visiting the divine city of Ajmer.