How Ajmer Sharif grew at the expense of the Pushkar Mahateerath

The soul of a civilisational state dies when its people feel indifference to the things that once made it great. Centuries of indoctrination have done similar damage to Indians. People of the country have become so much detached from reality that between their own teerath and the tourist spot thrust onto them by invaders, they choose the latter one to visit.

Recently, it was reported that Ajmer Sharif is losing its charm as a tourist destination. According to various reports, local businesses suffered as much as 90 per cent loss in their business this Eid. The situation is so bad that people who had earlier booked their hotels are also cancelling their bookings. Lots of hullabaloos were created in the country by media channels.

Pushkar Mandir for Bhagwan Brahma

Just a few kilometres away, there is another place that needs the attention of every section of the polity. The place is called Pushkar, and according to Google Map, it is hardly 15-20 minutes’ drive away from the Ajmer Dargah.

A lot of you must have been shocked by the comparison, but it is provably true that the place holds a lot of religious, cultural, and spiritual significance for the people belonging to the Indic civilisation.

Pushkar is the only place in the world where Bhagwan Brahma is worshipped in a Mandir. Reference to the Mandir can be found in at least 6 Purans. Padma Puran states that when Bhagwan Brahma killed the Raksash Vajranabha, his Kamal fell to the ground in 3 places. All 3 places later turned into lakes.

These lakes are chronologically named as the Jyeshta Pushkar or the greatest or first Pushkar Lake, the Madya Pushkar or the middle Pushkar Lake, and Kanishta Pushkar or the youngest Pushkar Lake. The deity of eldest Pushkar is Brahmaji, the middle Pushkar is attributable to Bhagwan Vishnu, and the deity of Kanishka Pushkar is Bhagwan Rudra.

Reason for calling it Mahateerath

Bhagwan Brahma organised a Yagya at the Jyeshtha Pushkar Lake after his victory over Raksash Vajranabha. It is well documented that Bhagwan Brahma himself became the Yajman for the Yagya. The responsibility of conducting it was taken up by seven Saptarshis named Rishi Vashistha, Rishi Marichi, Rishi Pulastya, Rishi Pulaha, Rishi Atri, Rishi Angiras, and Rishi Kratu.

Ideally, Bhagwati Saraswati should have been sitting beside Bhagwan Brahma, but due to some circumstantial exigency, Maa Gayatri had to sit beside him. Watching this unfold, Bhagwati Saraswati got angry and cursed Bhagwan Brahma that he would never be worshipped anywhere. Later, she diluted her curse and permitted his worship in Pushkar, declaring it to be Mahateerath.

Pushkar Mandir is the only Mandir in the entire universe where Bhagwan Brahma is worshipped by Bhakts. Considering the fact that Bhagwan Brahma is one of the 3 Trimurtis in Sanatan Dharm, and that too a creative force, it should have been the most revered Mandir. There is a reason Pushkar is named as Mahateerath.

The main Mandir of Pushkar is that of Brahmaji, which is located at a short distance from Pushkar Sarovar. In the complex where the main Mandir is situated, there are two more Mandirs of Mata Savitri on the right and Mata Gayatri on the left side of the four-faced Brahma. Nearby there are Murtis of Sanakadi and Narad Ji in a small Mandir. In another Mandir, there are Murtis of Kuber and Narad sitting on an elephant.

Pushkar is also mentioned in Ramayana. According to childhood days memoirs in Valmiki Ramayana, it is said that Rishi Vishwamitra did penance here. It was here that Apsara Menaka had also come to bathe in the holy water.

Pushkar is not only significant to Sanatan Dharma but equally important for Buddhism. In the inscriptions of Sanchi Stupa, there are descriptions of donations from several Buddhist monks who lived in Pushkar. In the inscription of the Pandulen cave, which is believed to be from 125 AD, the name of Ushamadvat appears. He was the son-in-law of the famous Raja Nahapana and had come to Pushkar and donated 3000 cows and a village.

Dargah grabs more eyeballs than Mandir

But, instead of the Brahma Mandir, the Pushkar fair is more famous in modern times. Part of the credit does go to consumerism for sure, but then Pushkar Mandir is not far away from there. Why can’t people take out a few hours from their busy schedule and flock in large numbers to the Mandir?

Turns out, that very few people know about Pushkar Mandir. The reason? Information dissemination networks have rarely cared to mention the glory, history, and culture associated with the Mandir. In fact, a major part of the limelight has been hogged by Ajmer Sharif Dargah.

The real story of Moinuddin Chisti

People highly correlate Ajmer Sharif Dargah with Sufism. Traditionally Sufism has been associated with the “Islam is a religion of peace” narrative. Ajmer Sharif is a tomb of alleged Sufi Saint Moinuddin Chisti. After Chisti’s death in 1236 AD, he was suddenly promoted as a great saint by the scholars of the era.

He may be the best of the lot for Sufis, but the narrative that he was a great soul lies busted by Sufi biographers themselves. Moinuddin Chisti is a highly veneered figure for the sake of playing an active role in the constant push to defeat Hinduism. According to a book titled “Islamic Jihad” by M.A. Khan, Chisti’s followers used to bring a cow near holy sites like Mandirs, slaughtered the poor animal, and cook Kebabs from the flesh. It is not tough to guess that the only intention behind doing it at these specified locations was to insult Hindus.

Chisti’s students and followers spied for Muhammad Ghori. After Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan was captured, Chisti declared, “We have seized Pithaura (Prithviraj) and handed him to the army of Islam”. Apparently, glorifying that kind of person also exposes the hollowness of the claims that Sufis are peaceful.

Bollywood and politicians have been promoting Ajmer Sharif

Ideally, his tomb should not have been a place for Hindus to visit. But, in popular culture (read Bollywood); the tomb is shown as a sacred place. G. Ishwar directed a movie named Mere Gharib Nawaz in 1973. The film acted as PR for Dargah as it showed a family overcoming an existential crisis by being pious towards it.

In the same year, another movie named Sultan E Hind by K. Sharif was released along similar lines. Later, Bollywood promoted Sufism on a war footing. The rise of Amitabh Bachchan as a megastar coincided with the rise of Qawalli in Bollywood movies. His “yaari hai imaan mera, yaar meri Zindagi” is still used as one of the best tributes to friendship by the film industry.

In the 1990s, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan started to dominate the Indian music scene. Bollywood made special arrangements for rehashing his Qawaalis and introducing them to the audience in the Bollywood template. Mahesh Bhatt is known for having a special penchant for Ali Khan. Bhatt Production house became a big catalyst in introducing Sufi music to the millennial audience.

Singers made Sufism a trend

Through songs like Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye, Tujhe Dekh Dekh Sona, Juda Hoke bhi, Wo Lamhe among others, Sufi proponents like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam captured the attention of Indians. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is in fact most beloved singer in this genre along with A R Rahman of course. On his part, Rahman has given Sufi hits like “Zikr” from Bose, The Forgotten Hero (2004), “Khwaja Mere Khwaja” from Jodha Akbar, “Piya Haji Ali” from Fiza, and “Arziyan” from Delhi-6.

Sufi music was promoted as an antidote to the crisis affecting the day-to-day lives of humans. Ranvir Kapoor’s character in the movie Rockstar became the lead inspiration for the youth who were tired of the hedonistic pleasures of western consumerism. Jordan (Ranvir Kapoor’s character name) is able to resurrect only after he spends some time among Sufis, singing “Kun Faya Kun”. Bollywood subconsciously told people that their life is a waste until you don’t visit Dargah and surrendered Urs ki Chadar to the tomb.

As they say, people do not practice anything until it becomes a trend to do so. The rise of Sufism in the industry propelled people from the film industry to visit places considered holy by Sufists. Almost every Bollywood actor has a photo at the Dargah. The list includes Bacchan Family, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranawat, Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Khemmu, Salman Khan, and Shahrukh Khan among others.

The narrative around Sufism and Ajmer Dargah

The place also became popular due to being different from other Islamic sites like Masjids. Unlike in Masjids, women are provided with greater freedom in this place. For people blessed with the liberal bent of mind, this one example became a symbol of liberalism in Islam and was propounded as such by these liberal elites.

Additionally, Majars being considered as Un-Islamic also played a key role in the promotion of Dargah. For a major part of its existence, Sufism was considered detached from Islam, but Sufis did not consider them as such. Ajmer Dargah is also sold as such. But, the fact is that if they had considered it un-Islamic, the Dargah would not even exist there. The place is centuries old, and with the amount of time Islamic invaders spent in the country, it was easy for them to destroy it, just as they did with 40,000 Hindu Mandirs.

Later as politicians started to hire filmy PR agents for their election promotions, even their photos from the Dargah started to come out. Barack Obama, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Ashraf Ghani are some of the famous or rather infamous politicians to have offered Chadar at the place.

Mahateerath needs to be revived

Astoundingly, most of the people visiting these places are Hindus who have been brainwashed by Bollywood. Frankly, most of them do not even know what they are doing. Now, that the Internet era is on and Marxists do not control the flow of information in the way they did for 60 years, it is time to shift our focus towards the glorification of Pushkar Mahateerath.

Pushkar Mahateerath is nothing less than other sites like Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Ujjain among others. It is time to resurrect it.