VISIT AJMER

Ajmer has a 1300 year old history, and is the quintessential symbol of India's syncretic culture: an amalgam of Hindu, Islamic and Jain cultures and traditions that survives even today.

Founded in the 7th. century as 'Ajay Meru' ('the invincible hill'), by Maharaja Ajay Pal of the Chauhan Rajput clan as the capital of his kingdom, it yielded to Islam at the end of the 12th. century, when the Turkish invader Mohammed Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi. After a turbulent 300-year old history, Ajmer became an integral part of the Mughal empire in the mid-16th. century, when the Emperor Akbar made it his base for his conquest of Rajputana. In the early-19th. century, the city came under British rule -  a little pocket of British India with an important military base - while the rest of Rajputana remained under the rule of autonomous Rajput kingdoms, albeit under 'benign' British supervision.

Today, the ancient quarter of Ajmer has well-preserved architectural remains - forts, Hindu and Jain temples and cenotaphs, Indo-Islamic architectural monuments such as tombs and palaces, some now converted into museums - from all these phases in its history.

Ajmer is most visited for its 13th. century Dargah Sharif, one of the holiest Muslim shrines in India. This is the final resting place of the Sufi saint and mystic Kwaja Moinuddin Chishti, also known as the 'Bestower of Boons'. The shrine is visited by thousands of pilgrims - including Hindus - from all over the world, who come to make a wish and, again, to offer thanks after their wish is fulfilled.

Visit Ajmer and learn about the Chishti legend. Be introduced to the moving strains of the Qawwal - a Sufi musical tradition - that transports the believer into a realm of mystical love. And make your wish, by tying a little red-and-yellow thread to one of the marble filigree windows of the shrine. You will see millions of little threads there, tied by pilgrims who visited before you in the hope of a dream coming true. The pilgrims vow to return when their wish is fulfilled, when they untie any one of the threads on that window and fasten it on to their own right wrist as a symbol of gratitude.