Exploring the Sambhar Salt Lake to Ajmer to Pushkar Route

Ajmer

We reached Ajmer around 1530h and walked towards ‘Khawaja Gharib Nawaz’ Dargah aka Dargah Sharif or Ajmer Sharif. Ajmer Sharif is a shrine of the pious Persian Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. Although the parking facility is available near the dargah to avoid congested lanes and traffic, we decided to park at the railway station itself. The Dargah is about 15 mins of walk from here. The environment near the dargah is filled with aromas of rose and loban (Frankincense). It kept on becoming stronger as we inch closer to the dargah. A piece of experience for all :

• Carry a scarf to cover your head.
• Ignore hundreds of voices around you for donation. Dargah has a trust office that accepts donations for maintenance.
• If you are intended to offer eatables, there are arrangements for that as well near the entrance gate.

After worshiping the shrine we moved towards Adhai-din-ka-jhopada, which means a shed built in two and half days. It’s a magnificent but incomplete monument in Ajmer. The Mughal-Rajputana architecture mosque is built on the remains of a Sanskrit college. It has been engraved in Urdu as well as touches of Hindu and Jain temples. There is no historical record of, why it is known as Adhai-din-ka-jhopada.

Pushkar

As we were getting late we decided to move towards Pushkar from here. While moving towards Ajmer-Pushkar highway we came across ‘Ana Sagar’, a man-made lake. Great place to enjoy the evening breeze and beautiful sunset. You will find numerous waterfowl in the lake, including swans. The best part about Rajasthan apart from majestic forts is their love for nature and animals.

After the sunset, we moved towards Pushkar. This time we stayed in a tent house booked at ‘Paramount Resort’ near the lake. We had a quick dinner and called it the day. After all tomorrow we have to visit the only Brahma temple in India.