A shrine that belongs to everyone
Every faith, one tomb: Muslim families, Hindu farmers, Sikh pilgrims, film stars, soldiers, students before exams and mothers with sick children, all moving slowly towards the same grave.
A working shrine: this is not a monument with pilgrims. It is a place of prayer that happens to be very old and very beautiful.
- City
- Ajmer, in the Aravalli hills
- From Jaipur
- About two and a half hours by road
- From Pushkar
- About 15 km, over the Nag Pahar ridge
- Calmest
- Early morning on a weekday
- Most moving
- Sunset, for the lamps and qawwali
- Roses, not tickets: pilgrims carry baskets of red rose petals and embroidered cloths for the tomb. The lanes outside smell of attar and sugar.
- Music as devotion: the Chishti saints held that music can draw the heart towards God. That is why qawwali fills these courtyards.
- Our sight page: for a gate-by-gate history, read our main Ajmer Sharif Dargah guide.
- The city around it: our Ajmer destination guide covers the lake, the old mosque and Mayo College.
Who was Gharib Nawaz?
A seeker: orphaned young, Moinuddin gave away what he owned and travelled the great centres of learning of the Islamic world in search of God.
The Chishti way: keep away from courts and kings, refuse gifts from rulers and live among ordinary people.
- Born
- Sistan, in today's eastern Iran, mid-twelfth century
- His teacher
- Khwaja Usman Harooni, of the Chishti order
- The order's name
- From Chisht, a town near Herat
- Came to Ajmer
- End of the twelfth century
- Died
- March 1236, in Ajmer
- His teaching, as remembered: the highest devotion is to relieve the suffering of others. Be generous like a river, warm like the sun and hospitable like the earth.
- Sama: listening to music and poetry as a path to the divine. Qawwali grew up around Chishti shrines because of it.
- His spiritual line: Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, then Baba Farid, then Nizamuddin Auliya, whose own shrine fills with qawwali in Delhi.
- The name that stuck: the people of Ajmer called him Gharib Nawaz, the benefactor of the poor. Pilgrims still say it as they enter.
Sultans, emperors and a Nizam
A modest grave at first: later sultans of Delhi and of Malwa added buildings. The Buland Darwaza is credited to a sultan of Malwa.
The dome: the white marble dome over the tomb carries an inscription dating it to 1532.
- Akbar's devotion: the emperor came on pilgrimage many times and is remembered for walking from Agra to give thanks after the birth of his son Salim, later Jahangir.
- Akbar's cauldron: the great deg in the courtyard was his gift in 1568, after his conquest of Chittorgarh.
- A sister shrine: his wish for a son also took him to the Chishti saint Salim Chishti at Fatehpur Sikri, which is why the two are spoken of together.
- Jahangir and Shah Jahan: Jahangir gave the smaller cauldron in 1614. Shah Jahan built the white marble mosque in 1637, and his daughter Jahanara added the Begumi Dalan.
- The twentieth century: in 1911 Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, gave the grand main gateway that bears his name.
- The wider story: our journal on Mughal and Rajput history explains the age of these patrons.
The walk in, gate by gate
The Dargah Bazaar
- What is sold: red and gold chadars for the grave, rose baskets, prayer caps, rosaries, attar and tins of sohan halwa.
- How to buy: let your guide buy the roses. Nobody should haggle over a sacred offering.
The Nizam Gate
- The custom: shoes come off at a stall outside, heads are covered and bags are checked.
- The feeling: from here you are in the saint's house, and voices drop around you.
The Shahjahani Gate and the drum house
- The naqqar khana: drums above the gate are beaten at set times, an old Mughal way of marking the hours of a royal or holy place.
- What to do: if they sound as you pass, stand still a moment.
The Buland Darwaza
- The flag: at the start of the Urs, a flag is raised above this gate to announce the festival.
- Not to confuse: it is a different, older gate from Akbar's Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri.
The tomb
What you see: the grave under its white dome, heaped with chadars and petals, behind marble screens and silver-plated railings.
- The khadims: the hereditary custodians guide pilgrims in, help lay offerings and give a blessing with a peacock-feather fan.
- How long: a few moments only, in a dense, slow crowd. Use them to be still.
The mosques, the Jannati Darwaza and the Jhalra
Two mosques: Shah Jahan's white marble mosque and the red sandstone Akbari mosque. Walk along the edges, never in front of anyone praying.
- The Jannati Darwaza: a silver door by the tomb, opened only on a few occasions, above all during the Urs.
- The Jhalra: a tank at the back fed from the hill, used for ablutions, and the quietest corner of the complex.
The degs, and rice given in the saint's name
Two gifts: the larger deg is Akbar's, the smaller is Jahangir's. Pilgrims drop coins and notes into them as offerings.
Who pays: a pilgrim whose wish has been granted may sponsor a cooking.
- What is cooked: a sweet rice with ghee, sugar, nuts and saffron, simmered slowly over a wood fire.
- Tabarruk: the food is a blessed gift, shared with everyone who comes, rich or poor, Muslim or not.
- Always vegetarian: this matters. Hindu and Jain pilgrims can accept it without hesitation, one of the quiet ways the shrine keeps its doors open to all.
- The emptying: men from families who have done it for generations climb into the hot cauldron, wrapped in cloth, and scoop out the rice in buckets. Fast, loud and astonishing.
- If offered rice: stand back, let pilgrims reach in first, and accept a little. Refusing would be unkind.
The lamps at dusk and the qawwali after
Dua-e-Roshni: the prayer of light, every evening at sunset. The khadims carry large candles into the shrine to light its lamps while the crowd outside stands in silence.
Women at that moment: some inner areas are closed to women during the ritual, and they wait in the courtyard. Follow the khadims' guidance.
Arrive early: find a place along the courtyard edge well before sunset. It lasts only a few minutes.
- Then the qawwals: harmonium, tabla and clapping hands. A lead voice sets out a verse, the chorus answers, and the song builds towards ecstatic repetition.
- The languages: Urdu, Persian, Hindi and the old Hindavi of Amir Khusrau. You do not need to understand a word.
- Thursday nights: the eve of the Muslim holy day brings the biggest crowds and the most fervent music of the ordinary week.
- For more space: come on a Monday or Tuesday evening. The music is just as sincere.
- Giving to musicians: listeners hold a note above the singers' heads, then hand it over, when a verse moves them. It is appreciation, not a fee.
- Wider listening: our page on folk music in Rajasthan sets qawwali beside the state's other great traditions.
The Urs, the saint's union with God
It begins with a flag: raised over the Buland Darwaza to announce the start.
The silver door opens: pilgrims queue for hours to pass through the Jannati Darwaza.
- Lasts
- Six days
- Ends
- On 6 Rajab, the seventh Islamic month
- Moves
- About eleven days earlier each year
- Mid-2020s
- Around December or January, we confirm yearly
- Crowds
- Among the largest gatherings in South Asia
- Music all night: qawwali gatherings in the Mehfil Khana and the courtyards go on until dawn.
- Cloths from everywhere: chadars arrive from across South Asia, including, by long custom, one sent each year by India's prime minister.
- The Qul: the closing prayer on the sixth day ends the Urs.
- Our honest advice: see the dargah on an ordinary day first. Visit during the Urs only with a guide who knows the crowds.
- Plan the dates: our page on the Urs at Ajmer Sharif explains how the days unfold.
What to wear and how to behave
Bring a scarf: a scarf, cap or handkerchief covers the head. Caps are sold in the bazaar.
Carry very little: leave valuables at your hotel. Bags are searched at the entrance.
Socks help: thin socks save your feet on hot or cold marble.
- Head
- Covered, for men and women
- Shoes
- Off before the gate, at a stall or in the car
- Dress code
- Arms and legs covered, loose cotton best
- Bags
- Searched; large bags and cameras may be refused
- Photography
- Never inside the tomb or during prayers
- Offering
- A rose basket; a chadar if you wish
- Photographs: none inside the tomb or during prayers. In the courtyards, ask before photographing anyone.
- Donations: the khadims may ask for one. A modest offering is entirely enough. Agree it beforehand, or let our guide handle it quietly.
- Feet and prayer: never walk in front of someone praying, and never sit with your feet towards the tomb.
- In the crush: hold children's hands, keep your bag in front of you and watch your pockets.
- Mobility: the lanes are steep and uneven, with no car access near the gate. Tell us early and we plan the quietest hour and shortest route.
- Across Rajasthan: our temple etiquette guide and women travellers guide cover sacred sites more widely.
The best hour, day and season
Early morning: the gates open before dawn, the marble is cool and you may see the degs being readied. The calmest hour to reach the tomb.
Sunset and after: the most atmospheric, for the lamps and an hour of qawwali.
- Midday: the hardest, especially from April to June, when the marble burns. Rest and come back in the evening.
- Busiest days: Thursday evenings, Fridays, the two Eids and the days of the Urs.
- Best season: October to March, with warm days and cool nights.
- Month by month: our guide to the best time to visit Ajmer has more.
Reading the buildings, in plain words
What a dargah is: literally a threshold or court, the shrine built over a Sufi saint's grave, with spaces around it for prayer, music, cooking and rest.
Red sandstone: the Akbari mosque wears the stone of Akbar's age, the same as his forts at Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.
- White marble: Shah Jahan's mosque shows his more refined taste, the taste of the Taj Mahal, with smooth surfaces and cusped arches.
- Early twentieth-century grandeur: the Nizam Gate of 1911 is tall, pale and confident.
- The fixed point: the tomb's marble dome with its gilded finial, around which everything else gathered.
- Worn by use: every floor is polished by bare feet and every space still does its job. Think of it as a monument that never stopped working.
- More vocabulary: our guide to reading Rajasthani architecture explains domes, arches and screens across the state.
What most visitors miss
Sitting still afterwards: find a place along the courtyard wall for twenty minutes and watch who comes. This is the real shrine.
The threads on the screens: thousands of coloured threads, each a wish. When it is granted, the pilgrim returns to untie one and give thanks.
- The old mosque up the lane: Adhai Din ka Jhonpra, begun in 1192, one of the oldest mosques in India, a few minutes' walk uphill.
- The Jhalra: the tank at the back, where the noise of the courtyards falls away.
- Sohan halwa: the dense, nutty sweet of Ajmer. Buy it on the way out, never on the way in.
- The drums: time your walk past the Shahjahani Gate for when the drums sound, and the hours of the shrine suddenly make sense.
What to pair with the dargah
Ana Sagar and the Baradari
- What: the twelfth-century lake and Shah Jahan's marble pavilions on its shore.
- When: late afternoon, before returning for the lamps. Our things to do in Ajmer guide has more.
Pushkar, over the hill
- Why: a morning at Brahma's temple and an evening at the dargah is one of the great days of a Rajasthan journey.
- Read next: our guide to Pushkar and the Brahma temple.
A journey of faiths
- The route: our Sacred Rajasthan journey links Ajmer with Pushkar, Nathdwara and Ranakpur.
- The pace: unhurried, so a Sufi shrine, a Hindu lake and a Jain temple each get their own day.
Where to stay, and how to get there
Pushkar resorts: pools, gardens and calm. Visit the dargah at dawn, return for lunch, drive back for the lamps. Our guide to luxury stays in Pushkar compares them.
Between the towns: Pratap Mahal, part of the Taj group's SeleQtions collection, sits among the hills on the Pushkar bypass road.
- Nearest airport
- Kishangarh, about 30 km away
- Railway
- Ajmer Junction, on the Delhi to Ahmedabad line
- From Jaipur
- About two and a half hours by road
- Base we suggest
- Pushkar, about half an hour away
- A palace: Kishangarh, about thirty kilometres north-east, has a lake palace run by its former ruling family, close to the airport.
- In Ajmer: our list of luxury hotels in Ajmer covers the choices in town.
- A day or two: our Ajmer itinerary shows how to fit the shrine into a wider journey.
Who will love Ajmer, and who may struggle
The spiritually curious: few places show shared faith so plainly.
Music lovers: an evening of qawwali here is unlike any concert.
- Families with older children: the degs, the drums and the roses hold their attention, with a firm hand in the crowds.
- Those uneasy in crowds: go at dawn on a weekday, or watch the evening from the courtyard edge rather than joining the line to the tomb.
- Those seeking quiet beauty: pair a short visit with the stillness of Adhai Din ka Jhonpra and an afternoon by Ana Sagar.