Petition claims Ajmer Dargah was originally Shiva temple, seeks ASI survey

A petition asserting that the Ajmer Dargah was originally a “Shiva temple” and seeking a survey of the site was filed in a district court on Monday (January 12). The plea was moved by Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, national president of the right-wing group Maharana Pratap Sena, before an Ajmer court.

“The Ajmer Dargah was a Shiva temple, and later it was made a dargah. I have been fighting for this issue for a long time. A petition had earlier been submitted to the President, which has been forwarded to the Rajasthan chief secretary,” he said. The petition also demands a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), he said.

Senior lawyer AP Singh said the petition was filed in the court of the district judge today in Ajmer. “The site was a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and dates back to ancient times,” he claimed.

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In 2024, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta also filed a similar petition, claiming that the Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti was built over a temple. He demanded that the dargah be declared a Hindu temple.

The Ajmer Sharif Dargah is considered to be among the holiest Muslim shrines in India and is also a famous landmark in Ajmer. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was a Sufi saint from Persia. He reached Ajmer and made it his home from 1192 till his death in 1236 AD.

The shrine was built by Mughal King Humayun in honour of the saint and houses his tomb. During his reign, Mughal ruler Akbar made a pilgrimage to Ajmer every year. He, as well as Shah Jahan, built mosques inside the shrine complex.

(With agency inputs)