By - Md.Mudassir Alam"My Visit to Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Dargah in Ajmer Sharif"
Visiting the holy dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer is a matter of faith for not just Muslims but also people of other religions. They go there in search of peace and fulfillment. When I was young, I used to hear my grandmother talking about this dargah. Edified thus about faith, I always wanted to visit this shrine.
After finishing my education from Aligarh Muslim University, I shifted to Delhi. My parents too came to the Capital. When we had all settled in, we made a plan to visit Ajmer. Going to the shrines of Hazrat Nizamuddin and Qutubuddin Bakhtyar at Mehrauli is considered essential before going to the dargah of Gharib Nawaz.
After fulfilling the formalities at these two dargahs, we boarded the Ahmedabad Express at Sarai Rohilla Railway Station for Ajmer. Before our departure, my uncle - a resident of Delhi for long - instructed us to remain careful of touts who deceive visitors in Ajmer.
Our journey was quite pleasant, and the next morning we reached the quaint Rajasthan town. As we came out of the station, we saw the autorickshaw-wallahs shouting 'dargah, dargah'. We went near one of them and asked the charges. "Rs 20," he replied.
Being a gentleman, my father revealed our identity. "We have come from Delhi to visit the dargah. Being strangers, we don't know the whereabouts of any good hotel. Can you help us?" he asked the driver. The driver suddenly turned quite gentle, and reduced the charges to Rs 15. We regarded it as an act of generosity on behalf of the driver. Soon, we were at the reception of a hotel.
As we were going upstairs to our rooms after checking in, I saw the receptionist giving Rs 50 to the driver. I realised there was a flourishing driver-hotel nexus in cities like Ajmer. After relaxing for a couple of hours, we moved towards the dargah. As we entered the main gate - near 'Bari Degh' - we saw a man following us. At first we regarded him as just another visitor like us. But, on being asked about who he was, he introduced himself as a khadim (servant) of Moinuddin Chishti.
As we reached the grave of Khwaja Saheb for offering fateha, the khadim told us to give our offering to him. There was a large crowd inside the dargah and it was not possible for us to fulfil the formalities. So, we had to give our offering to him. After offering fateha, he asked for money in the name of Gharib Nawaz.
Unwillingly, we had to part with him some money. After spending an entire day at the dargah, we returned to the hotel where a surprise awaited us. We were served a bill that was way too quite exorbitant from what the hotel receptionist had told us at the time of our arrival. He was no longer there, and it had got too late. We paid the bill without fuss.
On returning to Delhi, we never discussed the Ajmer visit. At least not with my uncle who had cautioned us about the touts there. The thought of the presence of such greedy elements in such a pious place still makes me restless.
After finishing my education from Aligarh Muslim University, I shifted to Delhi. My parents too came to the Capital. When we had all settled in, we made a plan to visit Ajmer. Going to the shrines of Hazrat Nizamuddin and Qutubuddin Bakhtyar at Mehrauli is considered essential before going to the dargah of Gharib Nawaz.
After fulfilling the formalities at these two dargahs, we boarded the Ahmedabad Express at Sarai Rohilla Railway Station for Ajmer. Before our departure, my uncle - a resident of Delhi for long - instructed us to remain careful of touts who deceive visitors in Ajmer.
Our journey was quite pleasant, and the next morning we reached the quaint Rajasthan town. As we came out of the station, we saw the autorickshaw-wallahs shouting 'dargah, dargah'. We went near one of them and asked the charges. "Rs 20," he replied.
Being a gentleman, my father revealed our identity. "We have come from Delhi to visit the dargah. Being strangers, we don't know the whereabouts of any good hotel. Can you help us?" he asked the driver. The driver suddenly turned quite gentle, and reduced the charges to Rs 15. We regarded it as an act of generosity on behalf of the driver. Soon, we were at the reception of a hotel.
As we were going upstairs to our rooms after checking in, I saw the receptionist giving Rs 50 to the driver. I realised there was a flourishing driver-hotel nexus in cities like Ajmer. After relaxing for a couple of hours, we moved towards the dargah. As we entered the main gate - near 'Bari Degh' - we saw a man following us. At first we regarded him as just another visitor like us. But, on being asked about who he was, he introduced himself as a khadim (servant) of Moinuddin Chishti.
As we reached the grave of Khwaja Saheb for offering fateha, the khadim told us to give our offering to him. There was a large crowd inside the dargah and it was not possible for us to fulfil the formalities. So, we had to give our offering to him. After offering fateha, he asked for money in the name of Gharib Nawaz.
Unwillingly, we had to part with him some money. After spending an entire day at the dargah, we returned to the hotel where a surprise awaited us. We were served a bill that was way too quite exorbitant from what the hotel receptionist had told us at the time of our arrival. He was no longer there, and it had got too late. We paid the bill without fuss.
On returning to Delhi, we never discussed the Ajmer visit. At least not with my uncle who had cautioned us about the touts there. The thought of the presence of such greedy elements in such a pious place still makes me restless.
