Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 4.8.19
Bandar
Sindri
Recently I had been to Central University of
Rajasthan, which is located at a place called Bandar Sindri. I read it as
Bandar Sundri. In Odia and Bangla it
means pretty she-monkey- khubsurat bandariya.
I like this kind of quirky names, which make
you smile, make you reflect, smells of the soil, provides a sneak pick of the
local culture or local history, instead of flat and drab Nagar or Pur with the
names of some political leader or historical figure.
The former gives you a lively kaleidoscope of
visual and mental images, the later overdone still of a faded and jaded image.
Ajmer
The distance to Ajmer from Bandar Sindri is
just about 54 km. Ajmer is known for the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti,
a 13th
century saint and philosopher. Born in Sistan in Modern day Iran he travelled
across South Asia, eventually settling in Ajmer. He died here in he died in
1236. As local as well as national rulers began to come and pray, the structure
was expanded. In 1332, the sultan of Delhi Mohammad Bin Tughluq constructed a
dargah. Dargah is essentially a commemoration structure constructed around the
tomb of Muslim saints, where people from all religions come to pray and ask for
favours. Dargah of Kwaja Moinuddin Chisti grew in popularity and size over the
years. The structure was subsequently expanded by a number of rulers.
Mughal king Akbar used to regularly visit the dargah. It is said that Akbar
walked over 400 km to come here and prayed for a son. He built a palace in
Ajmer. Tens of thousands of people visit the dargah to pray and ask for
favours.
I visited the dargah under a cloudy sky.
Occasional showers of rain had made the road muddy and dirty. Despite that mass
of humanity were moving towards the shrine.
 |
| Way to the Dargah (top photo). Inside the Dargah (bottom). Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
Once inside, I found uncanny similarities
between Dargah Sharif of Ajmer and
Jagannath Temple in Puri or for that matter any popular and revered
temple. I was offered the same advice, without me asking for: do this, wear
this, tie this around your wrist, and you will receive His rehmat/ kripa/
blessings. I found the same mad rush of people to enter the sanctum sanatorium.
And there are similar set of people inside (in different attire, speaking
different languages) asking you 'dil khol ke
de baba'. As I did not offer any money, one made a caustic comment; 'Khali
dekhne aa jate hain' (only came to see). Obviously he had doubt on my
reverence, as I did not pay currency notes. So reverence is equated with money
you pay. I have experienced the same in many temples too. Once out through a
suffocating small door, you are treated with sufi songs, sung by a motely crowd
of about four men. One more person is collecting the offering or asking for it.
Out of the main gate, hordes of beggars - old women, small girls, persons with
physical disabilities, even incapacitated persons rolling on the muddy road -
asking you for alms, shouting Allah
barkat dega.
As you dodge
them, persistently following you- you feel an emptiness within. It was raining,
when I came out of the Dargah. I felt that scaring emptiness. I felt it in
Puri. In Kalighat. In Mathura. Now, in Ajmer. The façade of the shrines are
different. But the similarity is uncanny.
Pushkar
Puskar, where there is an ancient Bramha Temple
is about 20 km from Ajmer. Around Pushkar lake there are many temples of and
for the cows like the one you see in this photo. Every such temple has one or
more donation box (Dan Patra) in front or around. There are people selling
blades of grass to feed the cows. By doing this, you are told that you would
gain 'punya'. They have some cows also nearby so that you don't have to look
for one and spend time. With the cow just there gaining punya is so easy.
Somebody later told me that the cow actually belonged to the person selling
grass. He sold you grass to feed his own cow. Think about the business model!
There are umpteen number of temples of
different size, shape for different gods and goddesses around Pushkar lake
including one for the cow. But one thing is common. No temple is without a
Donation Box. 'Donet Box' is ubiquitous in Pushkar.
Sword
Shops at Pushkar
A fortnight ago I was in the Spanish city of
Toledo once famous for its swords. There are umpteen number of souvenir shops
there selling different kinds of swords and knives. I was pleasantly surprised
to find many shops selling swords and knives in Pushkar.
'Current-wale
Balajee'
I saw a
fairly recent and small temple in Ajmer of 'Current-wale Balajee'. It beats me
why should a temple be named so?
Kishangarh
Kishangarh city (it got its name from Kishan Singh who was a
prince of Jodhpur), about 20 km from Bandar Sindri is known as Marble City of
India. Surrounded
by areas with rich marble, Kishangarh is a one stop shop for variety of marbles
supplied to all the Indian states and exported to numerous countries.
There are umpteen numbers of factories and
outlets dealing with marble plate and artifacts. Lots of shops are named with
the prefix marble city, including a large hospital and a liquor shop. Buy
liquor from Marble City Liquor shop. Fall Ill. Go to Marble City Hospital.
Kishangarh is also famous for its unique style
of paintings of 18th century. The Kishangarh paintings are unique because of
elongation of human faces, green color is used lavishly, and panoramic
landscapes are depicted in a very elegant manner in Kishangarh style of
paintings. More about that next week.
Decide
what to drink
The guy who made people drink COFFEE got scared of loans and
committed suicide, but the guy who made people drink ALCOHOL, ran away so
bravely.
Now you decide what to drink.
(Courtesy:
Social Media)
**
The
author, a journalist turned media academician lives in Central Odisha town of
Dhenkanal. An anthology of his weekly column Window Seat, published in 2018 has been published as a book. Write
to him to get a free e-copy. mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
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