Ajmer: Demand for survey of historic Adhai Din Ka Jhopra Mosque also raised, Hindu side claimed it to be a temple

Ajmer. After Ajmer Sharif Dargah, a controversy has arisen over another mosque in Rajasthan. There is a demand for a survey of the historic Aadhi Din Ka Jhopra Masjid located in Ajmer, which is said to be one of the oldest mosques in the state and the country. Recently, the Ajmer Court was approached demanding a survey of Ajmer Sharif Dargah.

Ajmer Deputy Mayor Neeraj Jain claimed in a statement, ‘Evidence of a Sanskrit college and temple has been found in the hut. It was demolished by the invaders in the same way as they demolished Nalanda and Takshashila (historic educational sites). Our culture, our civilization, our education were attacked and this (hut) was also one of them.’

Situated barely 5 minutes’ walk from the Ajmer dargah, Adhai Din ka Jhopra is a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Jain claimed that the ASI has over 250 sculptures from the site and that “there are swastikas and bells and Sanskrit shlokas at the site, which are originally more than 1,000 years old” and have been mentioned in history books. “We have earlier also demanded that the current religious activities should be stopped and the ASI should ensure that the college is restored to its old glory,” he said.

According to a report, the ASI, which has possession of the place, got its name “possibly from the fact that a two-and-a-half-day fair (Urs) used to be held here.” In his 1911 book, Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive, Har Bilas Sarda wrote that the name was given ‘in the latter half of the eighteenth century’ when fakirs began to assemble here to celebrate the two-and-a-half-day Urs anniversary of the death of their religious leader Punjab Shah, who had migrated from Punjab to Ajmer.

According to Sarda, Seth Viramdev Kala built a Jain temple in 660 AD to commemorate the Jain festival Panch Kalyan Mahotsav. ‘Since there was no place for the Jain priestly class to live in Ajmer, this temple was built,’ Sarda wrote. However, the structures at the site were reportedly destroyed by the Afghans of Ghor led by Muhammad Ghori in 1192 and the structure was converted into a mosque.

The ASI says, ‘Its construction was started by Qutbuddin Aibak around 1200 AD, with carved pillars used in the pillars… The pillared (prayer) hall is divided into nine octagonal compartments and the central arch is topped by two small minarets. The three central arches carved with Kufic and Tugra inscriptions make it a magnificent architectural masterpiece.’

In May, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, an MLA from Ajmer North, had sought an ASI survey of the site following claims and visits by some Jain monks – accompanied by Vishwa Hindu Parishad members – who said there used to be a Sanskrit school and a temple at the site.