Ajmer, the city of the saint and the invincible hill

Ajaymeru, the invincible hill

• Prithviraj Chauhan: under the most celebrated of the line, Ajmer and Delhi were joined under a single Rajput crown.
• The fall: after his defeat by Muhammad of Ghor at the second battle of Tarain in 1192, the city passed to the new rulers from the north-west.
• Why everyone wanted it: its position on the routes between Delhi, Gujarat and Malwa, and the saint who had come to live here.
• Akbar: he conquered Ajmer early in his reign and made it the capital of a province. He came on pilgrimage to the dargah many times, once walking barefoot.
• Jahangir and the English: Akbar's son lived here for about three years. In 1616 he received Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of James I of England, in one of the first formal meetings between the Mughal court and the English.
• A British island: from 1818 Ajmer was the headquarters of the small province of Ajmer-Merwara, ruled directly from British India while the princely states of Rajputana surrounded it.
• What that left behind: a colonial railway town, a clock tower, Victorian churches and a famous school for princes, beside the medieval monuments.
• Ajmer today: a busy, crowded, devout city of several hundred thousand people. It is not pretty in the way Udaipur is, and its traffic can be wearing.
• Why come anyway: no other city in Rajasthan holds so many layers of history so close together, and none shows more clearly how its faiths have lived alongside each other.

Ajmer Sharif, the shrine of Gharib Nawaz

Visiting the dargah with respect

• Carry little: bags, cameras and large phones may be checked or refused, and crowds near the tomb are dense.
• Photography: none inside the tomb or during prayers. In the courtyards, ask before photographing people, and put your phone away during the qawwali if those around you do.
• Offerings: rose petals and a chadar are sold in the lanes. A modest offering is entirely enough.
• Donations: accept help from the khadims, but agree beforehand on any donation, or let our guide handle it.
• Timing: go early in the morning. Thursday evenings and Fridays are especially crowded, and the days of the Urs are crowded beyond imagining.
• Watch your pockets: like every great pilgrim crowd, the dargah lanes attract pickpockets.
• Other sacred sites: our guide to faith and temples in Rajasthan covers their etiquette.

The Urs, the saint's wedding with God

• The silver door: the Jannati Darwaza, closed for most of the year, is opened, and pilgrims pass through it in their tens of thousands.
• Who comes: pilgrims from across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the wider world.
• Through the night: qawwali in the Mehfil Khana and the courtyards goes on until dawn, and the degs are cooked again and again.
• The lanes: they turn into a single moving river of people. It is one of the great religious gatherings of South Asia.
• Our advice: see the dargah on an ordinary day, and visit the Urs only with a guide who knows the crowds.
• Go deeper: our page on the Urs at Ajmer Sharif explains how it unfolds.

Adhai Din ka Jhonpra, the hut of two and a half days

• Its makers: the designs were by an architect named Abu Bakr of Herat, with local Hindu masons doing most of the work.
• Reused stone: pillars and carved stones from the earlier buildings were stacked to make tall columns, and their Hindu and Jain decoration is still visible up close.
• The screen: in the early thirteenth century Sultan Iltutmish added the great screen of arches across the front, carved with Arabic inscriptions and geometric patterns.
• The name, legend one: the mosque was built in just two and a half days.
• The name, legend two: it recalls a fair of two and a half days once held here.
• Why it matters: one of the most important early monuments of Indo-Islamic architecture, where two traditions meet in the stone itself.
• Today: no longer used for regular prayer. Visit quietly, and look up at the pillars.
• Go deeper: our page on Adhai Din ka Jhonpra has more on its history.

Ana Sagar and the marble pavilions

• How it was made: dammed across a valley between the hills. It still gives space and air to a crowded city.
• Daulat Bagh: the Mughals loved the lake, and Jahangir laid out this garden on its bank.
• The Baradari: Shah Jahan added a row of white marble pavilions on the embankment, open to the breeze off the water.
• Why the emperors stayed: sit in one in the late afternoon, looking across the lake to the hills, and you will understand.
• At sunset: families stroll the promenade, boats go out and the hills turn violet.
• Foy Sagar: a smaller lake on the edge of the city, built as a famine relief project. A peaceful drive at the end of the day.

Mayo College, the school for princes

• Royal boarding houses: princely states built their own on the campus, and many of the families whose palaces you visit in Rajasthan sent their sons here.
• The main building: a celebrated example of the Indo-Saracenic style, the late-Victorian blend of Mughal, Rajput and European architecture.
• In detail: gleaming white marble, with domes, arches and a clock tower.
• The grounds: lawns, playing fields and trees.
• A working school: visits are possible only by prior arrangement and outside sensitive times in the school year.
• How we help: we request permission for guests with a particular interest. When granted, the visit usually includes the main building and the school's museum.
• If not: the view of the main building from the road is still worth the drive.

More of Ajmer, from a Mughal fort to a hall of gold

What to eat in Ajmer

• Kadhi kachori: a crisp kachori drowned in tangy yoghurt curry, the city's favourite breakfast.
• The dargah lanes: small eateries serve rich meat dishes, biryani, kebabs and sheermal bread, especially in the evenings and during the Urs.
• Food as blessing: what is cooked in the great degs, usually sweet rice with dry fruits and ghee, is distributed to pilgrims.
• Plan your meat meals here: Pushkar, just over the hill, is strictly vegetarian.
• A calmer dinner: we prefer to return to your hotel.

Where to stay for Ajmer

• Details: our guide to luxury stays in Pushkar.
• Within the city: our comparison of luxury hotels in Ajmer covers the options.
• For a palace: Kishangarh, about 30 kilometres north-east, has a lake palace run by its former ruling family.
• For an early flight: Kishangarh is also the closest stay to Kishangarh Airport.

When to come to Ajmer

• April to June: very hot, and the crowds at the dargah make the heat harder to bear, so we plan visits for early morning and after dark.
• The monsoon: greenery on the hills around Ana Sagar and relief from the heat.
• The Urs: it moves through the calendar, so check its dates before you plan.
• For a calm visit: avoid the Urs and the days around it.
• To witness it: plan carefully and go with a guide.
• More detail: our guide to the best time to visit Ajmer.

Getting to Ajmer

• By air: Kishangarh Airport, opened in 2017, is about 27 kilometres north-east. Jaipur's airport has many more flights.
• To Pushkar: about 15 kilometres west, over the Nag Pahar ridge.
• Near the dargah: lanes are narrow and often closed to cars, so you will walk the last part.
• How we plan it: our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains.

A day in Ajmer, the way we plan it

What we tell our own cousins

• Agree on donations first: before a ritual, not after, or let our guide handle it.
• Respect every faith: do not argue about religion, and never criticise a ritual. People of many faiths pray here side by side, and that is the point.
• Keep Ajmer and Pushkar together: one is the great Muslim shrine of Rajasthan, the other its great Hindu pilgrim town, fifteen minutes apart. Seeing both teaches you a great deal.
• Read before you come: our journal piece on Mughal and Rajput history. Ajmer is where the two stories meet.