Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Ajmer is a city in the heart of Rajasthan, India, ringed by the Aravalli hills and famous for the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, the shrine of the Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti that draws pilgrims of every faith. Its top sights are the dargah, the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque, Ana Sagar Lake, Taragarh Fort and the golden hall of Soniji Ki Nasiyan, with sacred Pushkar just 14 km away.
Ajmer was founded as Ajayameru, the invincible hill, by the Chahamana kings, who ruled from here until the 12th century. The Mughals also left their mark: Akbar walked here barefoot on pilgrimage and built the Akbari Fort, Jahangir laid out the Daulat Bagh garden, and Shah Jahan added marble pavilions beside the lake.
Under British rule Ajmer was the centre of the directly ruled Ajmer-Merwara region and home to Mayo College, founded in 1875 to educate the sons of princes. Today it is a heritage city of the HRIDAY scheme, and most visitors combine the dargah with the lake, temples and camel fair of Pushkar.
Ajmer Sharif Dargah is the shrine of the 13th-century Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, one of the most visited Muslim shrines in South Asia. Entered through the Nizam Gate, it holds the saint's tomb and two giant cauldrons given by Akbar and Jahangir, and it fills with pilgrims at the urs.
Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra, the shed of two and a half days, is a former mosque in Ajmer and the oldest surviving monument in the city. Commissioned by Qutb-ud-Din Aibak in 1192 and enhanced by Iltutmish, it reuses the ornate carved pillars of earlier Hindu and Jain temples and is now an ASI monument.
Soniji Ki Nasiyan is a red sandstone Digambara Jain temple in Ajmer, dedicated to Rishabhanatha in 1865 by the Soni family. Behind it, the Swarna Nagari hall holds a vast gilded model of Jain cosmology and the city of Ayodhya, made by Jaipur artisans between 1870 and 1895.
Nareli Jain Temple, also called Shri Gyanodaya Tirth Kshetra, is a modern Digambara Jain temple on an Aravalli hillside about 7 km from the centre of Ajmer. Its striking main temple mixes traditional and contemporary styles, with a line of small shrines for the 24 Tirthankaras on the hill above.
Taragarh Fort is a hill fort on a steep ridge above Ajmer, originally called Ajaymeru Durg and later named after Tarabai, wife of the Mewar prince Prithviraj. Its walls once had 14 bastions, including the Bhim Burj, and inside stands the dargah of Miran Saheb, who died here in 1202.
Akbari Fort and Museum in Ajmer is a fort commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1570, where Jahangir later met the English envoy Sir Thomas Roe. It now houses the Rajputana Museum, with Mughal and Rajput armour, sculpture and other antiquities collected from across the region.
Mayo College in Ajmer is a boys' boarding school founded in 1875 and named after the Viceroy Lord Mayo, created to educate the sons of Indian princes and nobles as an Eton of India. Its main building, in white marble, is a classic example of Indo-Saracenic architecture.
Daulat Bagh is a Mughal garden beside Ana Sagar Lake in Ajmer, laid out by the emperor Jahangir. Between the garden and the water, Shah Jahan built five marble pavilions known as the Baradari, and boats out onto the lake can be hired from the east side of the garden.
Ana Sagar Lake is an artificial lake in Ajmer, built between 1135 and 1150 by Arnoraja, the grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan, and named after him. The largest lake in the city, it is bordered by the Daulat Bagh garden and the marble Baradari pavilions, with an island reached by boat.
Pushkar Lake is a sacred Hindu lake in the town of Pushkar, 14 km northwest of Ajmer, surrounded by 52 bathing ghats and more than 500 temples. Pilgrims crowd its ghats for a holy dip, above all at Kartik Purnima, when the Pushkar Fair is held, and it is mentioned on coins from the 4th century BC.
Brahma Temple Pushkar, also called Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, is one of the very few temples in India dedicated to Brahma, the Hindu creator god, and the most prominent of them. Built of marble and stone near Pushkar Lake, it dates to the 14th century and has a distinctive red spire.
The Pushkar Camel Fair is an annual livestock fair and festival in Pushkar near Ajmer, held in the Hindu month of Kartik and ending at Kartik Purnima. One of India's largest camel, horse and cattle fairs, it draws over 200,000 visitors to camel races, dances and contests by Pushkar Lake.
No reviews yet. Been to Ajmer? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Ajmer? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: VrMUSLIM, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Hemant Shesh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Satyamonline4u, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Rakshita20, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Shahrukhalam334, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: LBM1948, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Logawi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mridulchaudhary, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Karri Dharma Teja, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: V.K wikimats, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: 獅眠洞, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Shahnoor Habib Munmun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Shahnoor Habib Munmun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Sourabh chhipa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ssjoshi111, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Varun Shiv Kapur from New Delhi, India, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Varun Shiv Kapur from New Delhi, India, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Gourav mainali, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Capankajsmilyo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Capankajsmilyo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hemant Shesh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Shahrukhalam334, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: AdityaVijayavargia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: AdityaVijayavargia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Vedant, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Singh92karan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Anuragraj29, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Adityavijayavargia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Manish Pareek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Hemant Shesh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: SoumavaKarmakar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Pinakpani, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Rashmi.parab, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Mahendra Nikum, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
