AJMER SHARIF DARGAH WITH DEVOTED CROWDS

We drove into Ajmer to visit the Dargah. I had heard so much about it and sworn to visit it. The Governor saab indulged us.
Higway No 8 was crowded and it goes right up to Ahmedabad via, Baroda, Surat and other places. Trucks, buses, cars and two wheelers abounded. Repair of highway is going on and so the siren whooped everywhere. At one toll booth one of the security guys would not allow us till we showed pass. He of course got a lesson in protocol. There is one dhaba famous for its 32 inch parantha, but we just had a sweet tea off a mud kulhad. And we reached Ajmer.
Apart from the crowded roads, the highway is dotted with restaurants, dhabas, hotels, all along the way. Natural greenery but no agriculture because of lack of water.
We had to go to Delhi Gate of the Dargah to be escorted and so we drove into the slimmest of roads with shops on either side. Shimmery stuff and had I walked I would have bought everything. It was dazzling with surma-eyed young men selling prayer beads and mats to mithais. Bholenath ki dukaan abutted two huge vessels selling nihari and biryani.... Men and women and children stared at us as we inched our way into the road. I was so guilty, but such is VIP treatment and behaviour.
Colourful bandhej kurtas were displayed at mouthwatering rates, even as son halwa shops were stacked with this amazing sweet. This delicacy is hard indulgence, sweet and full of ghee. It is apparently made by boiling a mixture of water, sugar, milk, and cornflour until it becomes solid. Ghee is used to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
Wikipedia says that in Old Delhi, a 225-year-old Ghantewala sweet shop established during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, in 1790, made sohan halwa. Theybhave now shut down.
There was absolutely no scope of getting down, buying something and then making a decent getaway. I just watched it all go by, while people thronged. Vehicles were not allowed on this road, but you know..
It was a Friday, but we were taken in by six cops and a senior person attached to the Dargah, who told us that the first  gate was built by the Nizam of Hyderabad, the second gate by Emperor Shah Jahan.
The oldest gate was built by Allauddin Khilji. But there was no time to just stand and dwell. Crowds were pouring in, we were being escorted while flowers were being crushed underfoot. The Urs was just over but devotees still filled the place. I was expecting prayer songs and qawallis to be played loud but nothing of that sorts happened
Ajmer Sharif Dargah is a Sufi tomb of the revered Sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti. This tomb of Moinuddin Chishti is one of India's most important Sufi tomb.
Moinuddin Chishti was a 13th-century Sufi saint and philosopher who came to Delhi and then moved  to Ajmer, where he was recognised as a charismatic and compassionate spiritual preacher and teacher. He died in 1236 and since then his tomb has been much venerated.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar is supposed to have visited the shrine no less than fourteen times and also made a barefoot pilgrimage to this tomb in 1566, with his Hindu consort, in prayer for children.
It is one of the most popular religious places for Sunni Muslims. Hindus have also been visiting this site since the Medieval times.
We went in after being pushed around, through the 'jannati darwaja', which would lead people to heaven. And those who cannot visit Mecca for some reason can feel the same blessings here. We were then blessed by a senior person and that was very touching. While people stand inside the iron railing surrounding the mazaar of the saint, one feels lucky to have reached till there.
After seeing the crowd, I am wondering how people with mannats (prayers) manage and then someone said that it was quite enough for many, just to reach the 'chokhat' or the door frame of the dargah to feel blessed.
While I still remain astounded at the chaos surrounding the mazaar and in and around the Dargah, I am also getting misty eyed at the kind of faith which brings people to such divine destinations.
Do their wishes get fulfilled? Do they have more prayers if one is answered. I ask this for all devotional places, for all devotees.