Ajmer: A court in Rajasthan has issued notices to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Centre following a petition alleging the existence of a Shiva temple within the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. The petition, filed in September, seeks permission to allow worship at the site again.
Advocate Yogesh Siroja, representing the petitioner, confirmed that Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel has directed notices to the Ajmer Dargah Committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the ASI office in New Delhi, seeking their responses.
The petition has sparked controversy and is drawing attention to similar disputes at other religious sites in India, including those in Varanasi, Mathura, and the Bhojshala in Dhar. These cases have brought into question the intersection of religious sites and historical claims, igniting debates over the coexistence of different religious symbols and structures at shared locations.
The court’s order follows recent violent clashes in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, where four people were killed and many others injured after a local court ordered a survey at a mosque, with petitioners claiming that the mosque had been built over a pre-existing temple.
In the Ajmer case, the petitioner’s counsel, Ramswaroop Bishnoi, referenced a 1911 book titled Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive by retired judge Harvilas Sharda. The book claims that debris from a Hindu temple was used in the construction of the dargah. It further mentions that a sanctum or basement inside the dargah housed a Shiva Lingam, which had been worshipped by a Brahmin family. The book also notes the presence of remnants from a Jain temple incorporated into the dargah’s structure, including elements of temple debris used in the construction of its iconic 75-feet-tall buland darwaza.
The case is likely to have wider implications for similar ongoing disputes across the country, with the court’s next hearing scheduled for December 20. The outcome of this case will be closely monitored as it could set a significant precedent in the ongoing debate surrounding religious heritage sites.
