The Chishti Shrine of Ajmer: Pirs, Pilgrims, Practices

Sufism forms the comerstone of Islamic religious thought and practice, as it is the supreme source to attain spiritual truth and bliss through moral ethics, selfless truth and bliss through moral ethics, selfless love to God and service to His creatures without discrimination. It is founded on the total surrender to the will of god and absolute devotion to Him alone. It envisages a peaceful harmonious social order for the moral and spiritual progress of society. These cardinal principles of humanism and co-existence were propounded and preached by all Muslim saints and their strivings immensely contributed to the transformation of character and attitudes of a large number of people in the country. Of all the mystic orders which emerged during the medieval period in South Asia, the Chishtiyah order establish in India by Khwaja Mo’inuddin Chishti (1140-1235), truly the “Sufi of the millennium”, became the most popular and his shrine at Ajmer, the center of devotion to all ranks of society, rulers, elites, commoners and masses. The present work deals with the teachings, thought and practices of the great Chishti saint, Khwaja Mo’inddin and the history, and functions and role of its custodian / keepers and supervisors and crowds of pilgrims on the occasion of annual urs the dargah. The work is based on contemporary literature, vast and varied, including the documents of land grants and endowments given by Mughal nobbles especially of Hindu chieftains-the Rajputs and Marathas for the maintenance of khuddam and upkeeps of the shrine, throwing light on their devotional attachment to it and on their devotional attachment to it and on the religious climate of the period.