page_title: Ajmer Sharif Dargah
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Ajmer Sharif Dargah / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti Ajmer India
context_page_description: Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Ajmer Dargah, Ajmer Sharif or Dargah Sharif is a sufi shrine of the revered sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti, located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The shrine has Chisti's grave.
context_section_description: The dargah has been a site for pilgrims belonging to Hinduism and Islam since medieval times and also attracts Jains and Sikhs. Pilgrims come here from around the world and offer chaddars (sacred sheets) to the shrine. Pilgrims also offer rose petals, which total up to seven tonnes per day. Women are allowed to enter the dargah. It has been estimated that around 20,000 pilgrims visit the site every day. After pilgrims exit the shrine, photographers from photo studios offer professional photos of the pilgrims at rates as cheap as ₹20. Most of these photographers are Hindus who migrated to Ajmer during the Partition of India.
  For the langar of the shrine, Akbar and Jahangir donated degh (transl. cauldron) in 1568 and 1614, respectively. These two degh are in use event today, as the dargah is known for its degh ka khana (transl. food from a cauldron). This is made of rice, ghee, cashew nuts, almonds and raisins. People undergo the Islamic ritual purification of wudu, in which pilgrims wash their face, hands and feet prior to offering namaz. The street approaching the dargah is well-known for its food, craft items and gota work.
  The daily rituals at the dargah are mainly the five mandatory prayers of Muslims, the namaz. At sunset, there is the ceremony of the Dua-e-Roshni (transl. prayer of lights), in which large yellow candles are carried to the darbar by the khadims. Following the prayers at night, qawwalis are sung, after which all visitors are asked to leave. Three khadims then clean the durbar with brooms made of peacock feathers. After the last person is out of the shrine, the qawwals recite the Karka, which is a musical verse in Sanskrit, Brij and Persian. The dargah is then locked and reopened only for the next day's pre-dawn prayer.
  Some attribute the influence of Islam on Indian culture to have begun from the dargah, including in Tansen's music; the tolerance practiced by Salim Chishti, Abul Fazl and Abul Faizi; and in Indo-Saracenic architecture. It has been the tradition to source the incense, sandalwood paste and ittar used in the dargah from a Brahmin family, right from the times of Chishti. One shrine in the dargah complex is revered by Sikhs.
caption: The street approaching the dargah
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