SILK ROAD (Ajmer)

Personal experience, monuments, people, culture, traditions,

(other necessary details may be furnished)

· Black practical file, with lose A4 coloured pages

· Cover page- project title, school details, student details

· Statement of purpose

· Action Plan

· 800-1000 words essay

· Student/group reflections

· Photos

Research-

1. Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti's Dargah

At the foot of an arid hill is situated India's most

important pilgrimage centre for people from all
faiths. It is the splendid tomb of the Sufi saint
Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, more popularly known as
Khwaja Sahib or Khwaja Sharif, who came to Ajmer
 from Persia in 1192 AD. The shrine is next only to
Mecca or Medina for the Muslims of south Asia.
Akbar used to make a pilgrimage to the Dargah
from Agra once a year.

2. Prithviraj Chauhan Statue

3. Taragarh Fort
4. Anasagar (lake)
5. Akbari Fort
6. Baradadi --daulat bagh, near Anasagar
7. Pushkar (Brahma mandir)
8. Bajrangarh
9. Guru Pushkar Raj
10. Nareli (Jain temple)

Final Project:
(Cover Page-black colour) Example:
Page 1. To be left blank for Statement of Purpose which will be
given by Anita ma’am
Page 2.

ACTION PLAN

10 October, 2021- Project title to be finalised

20 October 2021- General briefing via Zoom regarding project

details, deadlines and brainstorming ideas.

21 October, 2021- Research begins. (Includes online research and

talks with inhabitants of the place in consideration.)

By 25 October 2021- Research completed. Second meeting via zoom

regarding which points of research to be admitted into project report.

By 27 October 2021- Report jointly typed and finalised by teammates

via Google documents.

By 28 October 2021- Report handwritten in file and decorated.

Pictures of each other sent via gmail and printed to be pasted in the
project report.

By 30 October 2021- Project Report submitted

Page 3.
Essay
Ajmer, simply Ajmer - a small and charming little city in Rajasthan with
quite a simple name and even simpler lifestyle, and yet an enormous
history and even more enormous diversity. One may ask why a travelogue
on this 55 square kilometer hilly area with a rather unattractive economy.
But then, if jewels were so easily accessible, everybody would have them,
wouldn’t they?

Like every state has its own priceless jewel, Ajmer, I believe, is the jewel of
Rajasthan. On the outside it seems like a little town with an easy-going
population of 5,42,300, exclusive of all organisms other than the reverent
Homo Sapiens. To get the real taste, one must dive in.

Ajmer is a highly cosmopolitan city, not in the sense that it is highly

urbanized, but rather in the sense that the inhabitants of the city are
interlinked by something beyond materialism. Everyone seems to know
everyone else, however much diverse their religious backgrounds are. If
there is a limit to religious diversity, Ajmer has crossed that limit. And yet,
the culture is so similar, that it may take a lifetime for one to differentiate
between Ajmerites. Each individual seems to fit in perfectly in this place.

The Government of India must have realized the tourism potential in

Ajmer, leading to the Ajmer railway station being one of the most
beautiful in existence. Not only this, Ajmer is also home to the railway
locomotive corporation. Unsurprisingly, the city also serves as a
connection between Delhi and Mumbai, thanks to National Highway
No.8 that passes through this city. Nearest airports from Ajmer are at
Kishangarh and Jaipur respectively. Within the city, Mercedes and Volvo
buses are enough to cover the entire Ajmer within 2-3 days. As common in
South East Asia, November and February are seen as the months of
highest tourism prevalence. Contrary to South East Asia, Ajmer is filled
with more tourists than natives in the said two months!

Ajmer was historically connected with Delhi, the ruler of Delhi was
chosen the ruler of Ajmer. This had an unprecedented effect on Ajmer.
Under the Mughal Sultanate, Delhi was chosen the capital, which
naturally follows that Ajmer was directly ruled by Mughals for as long as
the Sultanate lasted leading to a potpourri of ancient Mughal and
pre-existing Hindu, Sikh, Jain and similar traditions. On top of this,
Christianity was sprinkled during the British rule. The effect was that,
Ajmer ended up having everything from one of the most important Jain
pilgrimages to one of the oldest mosques in India.

Ajmer is surrounded by the Aravalli hills on all sides giving it a strategic

location and preventing it from being a desert like the Thar. On the
northern part of these hills is built Ganesh Garh, the temple devoted to
lord Ganesh. If you go a little east, you are likely to find Bajrangarh, the
temple devoted to Lord Hanuman, surrounded by a lot of monkeys who
are themselves revered as symbols of His presence. On the southern side, is
built a dargah near which is the very famous Taragarh Fort, which is also
known as the Ajmer Fort, alongside the statue of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. In
the center of all these hills, comes an area of plane land which gives a vivid
hint of Mughal air. This land is adorned with tombs and pillars of Islamic
architecture. The major attraction of this area is Baradadi and Daulat
Bagh built by eminent Mughal rulers, and also Anasagar, the artificial
lake, founded by the grandfather of Prithivi Raj Chauhan, King Anaji
Chauhan between 1135 and 1150 AD. At the foot of these hills is also
situated the splendid tomb of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti,
more popularly known as Khwaja Sahib or Khwaja Sharif, who came to
Ajmer from Persia in 1192 AD. The shrine is next only to Mecca or
Medina for the Muslims of south Asia. Legend holds that King Akbar
used to make a pilgrimage to the Dargah, at the outskirts of Ajmer, from
Agra every year. Also, the Urs at the Dargah Sharif is the largest fair of the
Islamic religion in India. The Dargah is venerated by people of all
religions. It is a commonly held belief that the Saint grants wishes. People
come to seek blessings or just peace of mind. According to legend, the
Mughal emperor Akbar came here in the 16th century to request the saint
for a boon for an heir and the saint obliged. Devotees offer Chadar,
Ghilaph & Neema, votive offerings for the tomb.

Pushkar is a little town, also at the outskirts of Ajmer. This place holds
the only Brahma Mandir in the whole world. The Ajmer-Pushkar region
is a huge business driver as it is home to an impressive number of marble
factories due to high availability of limestone.

Ajmer is the paradise of a foodie, one can find everything from

teeth-testing Soan Halwa to Kachoris made in pure cow ghee. The highly
fulfilling kaddi kachori and lassi, Tilpatti of Beawar, Makkhanbada of
Kishangarh, what is it that’s not there?

But the most important thing at Ajmer is not the ancient architecture, the
marble factories, the sunsets of Pushkar or the food. It is not even the
religious diversity. The prestige of this place is spirituality and peace of
mind that it provides. In a ‘developed’ world, Ajmer is the only place
where not even a single individual is stressed about the future or
concerned about the past. People here are carefree. They are simple but
wise. And this feeling cannot be expressed in words. Although Ajmer is
home to the Nareli pilgrimage for Jains, or the Dargah for Muslims, or the
various temples, and what not for all religions, Ajmer itself is, in every
sense, a pilgrimage.
 DARGAH SHARIF

NARELI TEERTH

TARAGARH FORT

GANESH GARH