Khwaja Sahib knows what I want

Photograph by Preeti Verma Lal

A day in Ajmer does something to you. As I walked the crowded street that lead to the Dargah, I could feel the fragrance of pink roses mingling with the sweetness of sohan halwa that Ajmer is so famous for. My head was uncovered and as if to mingle with the crowd I bought a lace skull cap for Rs 5 and continued walking towards the Dargah. Within minutes I had my moment with Khawaja Sahib…. They say if you wish for something the Khwaja fulfills it, but I forgot to ask for something….Perhaps the Khwaja knows what I want and someday when that wish is fulfilled I will wear the lace cap and walk the crowded street again….

Faith! I have heard tales about Faith moving mountains and bringing the dead alive; I also know that Faith manifests itself in varied tints and in an ordinary moment it could touch your core eternally. I know, I know all this. But for me Faith has only been about what John Keats called the holiness of the heart's affection. Nothing stirs my soul more sedulously; nothing else makes me kneel in obeisance. Friends think I am an agnostic, even an iconoclast when I choose to be one. Perhaps.

But one autumn day when I was in Ajmer on an assignment, I met Faith, Faith as everyone sees it - unconditional belief in a deity, in a messiah; a belief that makes the believer's life beautiful and hope such an accessible virtue. It is my first visit to Ajmer and I stop at every possible place to ask about 'what to see' in Ajmer. I am at the 12th century Anasagar Lake and the green water intrigues me. The hullabaloo from the passing vehicles is very vexing, but I run down the stairs to touch the lake. There was Hamida Bano, her head covered, her hair hennaed hunched on the ghat. With her wrinkled hands she picks the water from the lake and wipes her face. Her grandson is standing knee-deep in the water; he is creating little ripples with his tiny hands and then mutters a silent prayer. When Hamida Bano opens her eyes, you can see a tear rimming her kohl-lined eyes. "Khwaja Sahib called me and that is why I am here. I have come all the way from Mumbai to Ajmer to offer prayers to the Khwaja at the Dargah and wash away my sins in this lake near which Khwaja Sahib once lived…."

It is not just Anasagar Lake, all of Ajmer is about Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, a Sufi dervish who lived in Ajmer for four decades and chose it as his last resting place. You don't need a map to find your way through the unnamed lanes in the city that was founded by Ajay Pal Chauhan and was once the military base of Akbar and a pleasure resort of Shah Jahan. Stop anywhere and ask for the Dargah or the Khwaja or Garib Nawaz and they would show you the way to the mausoleum that lies beyond a huge arched red sandstone gate.

The mausoleum was built in early 13th century and is approached through the Buland Darwaza that has silver doors. Within the precincts of the Dargah, there's a mosque built by Emperor Shah Jahan and in the courtyard are two huge cauldrons originally donated by Emperor Akbar and Jehangir. Rice, sugar and clarified butter are cooked in the degs that can hold 4,480 and 2,240 kgs of rice, respectively. Since the degs are nearly 12 ft deep, a wooden ladder is used by professional looters to go to the bottom and empty the degs in a few minutes and the scraped food is sold as tabarukh (sanctified food).

Not too far from Anasagar Lake you can see the blue and white signboard of the Government Museum of Ajmer (also known as Rajputana Museum) that hangs under a heavily latticed arch and is flanked by delicately carved jharokhas. It was in these jharokhas that Emperor Akbar sat and listened to the grievances of his citizens and it was here on January 10, 1616, that Emperor Jehangir gave audience to Sir Thomas Roe, the accredited ambassador of King James 1, the King of England. This meeting in the squarish fort built by Akbar in 1570 changed the fate of the country.

From the splendour of the Akbar's reign to becoming an arsenal during the British rule, Akbar's Fort became a rich repository of Rajputana history when it was converted into a museum in 1908. As you enter the museum precincts, a large cannon is exhibited next to what looks like an impregnable wall. The main sections of the museum are devoted to sculptures, paintings, arms and weaponry, protohistoric antiquities and epigraphs and all these are housed in the ground floor of the double-storied fort.

Other than faith and artifacts, Ajmer was once also the education hub for the elite. Mayo College was established in 1870 for scions of royalty and named after Lord Mayo, the then Governor General of India. It was the favourite haunt of all the princes ready to pick up the three Rs; the hallowed portals of Mayo were thrown open for the masses and a girls college added later.

In Ajmer, Faith comes in varied colours, red being one of them. Look at Nasiyan, the temple of Digambar Jains with red exteriors that is usually referred to as the Red Temple. Also known as Sidhkut Chaitalaya, the temple was built in 1865 with richly painted hall and glass mosaic work in the ceiling. It also has illustrative representations of the birth and life of Risabhdev or Adinath, the first Tirthankara.

A day in Ajmer does something to you. As I walked the crowded street that lead to the Dargah, I could feel the fragrance of pink roses mingling with the sweetness of sohan halwa that Ajmer is so famous for. My head was uncovered and as if to mingle with the crowd I bought a lace skull cap for Rs 5 and continued walking towards the Dargah. Within minutes I had my moment with Khawaja Sahib…. They say if you wish for something the Khwaja fulfills it, but I forgot to ask for something….Perhaps the Khwaja knows what I want and someday when that wish is fulfilled I will wear the lace cap and walk the crowded street again….

Published in The Times of India, 2006

Contact: Preetivermalal@gmail.com