A recent petition in an Ajmer court seeking a survey of the Ajmer Sharif dargah has triggered demand for restoration of the 12th-century mosque Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra to its original pre-Islamic heritage.
Ajmer Deputy Mayor Neeraj Jain has reiterated claims that the structure originally served as a Sanskrit college and temple before being demolished by invaders.
"There is clear evidence that a Sanskrit college and temple existed at the place of the Jhonpra. The ASI has declared it a protected monument. Illegal activities are going on, and parking has been encroached. We want the activities to stop," Jain said.
He said the ASI should bring out the idols kept inside the jhonpra and set up a museum, and a survey is required for it. Jain also claimed Nalanda and Takshila were targeted as part of a broader attack on Indian culture, education, and civilisation.
He also alleged that the ASI holds over 250 idols from the site and pointed to the presence of swastikas, bells, and Sanskrit inscriptions as proof of its pre-Islamic history.
"Before Covid, we had demanded that the activities at the protected site be stopped and the site's original heritage be restored. But it got shelved due to the pandemic," Jain added.
According to the ASI website, Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra is a masjid built by Qutub-ud-Din-Aibak, the first Sultan of Delhi, in AD 1199, contemporary to the other one built at the Qutub Minar complex of Delhi known as the Quwal-ul-Islam mosque.
However, a large number of sculptures of temples are lying inside the verandah of the complex for safety and security purposes by the department, which shows the existence of a Hindu temple in its vicinity during circa 11th-12th Century AD.
This mosque, built from the dismantled remains of temples, is known as Adhai din ka Jhonpra, possibly from the fact that a fair used to be held here for two and a half days.
Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said that Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra has always been imprinted in the public mind as a Sanskrit school. "People of Ajmer know what importance it had in the form of education in ancient times in Sanatan culture. How it was captured and became Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra from a school is a matter of research," he said.
A Jain monk claimed the monument was formerly a Sanskrit school, and a Jain temple existed before the school. "We have in the past demanded that the monument should be redeveloped and its past glory should be restored. There are idols in the monument that are kept in a storeroom," Sunil Sagar Maharaj said.
In May, a group of Jain monks accompanied by VHP leaders went to the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra. The monks led by Sunil Sagar Maharaj reached the monument from Fawara Circle via Dargah Bazaar.
Later, an audio message of Sarwar Chisti, Secretary of Anjuman of Ajmer dargah, surfaced on social media in which he said he had registered his protest with police while objecting to Jain monks' visit to the monument, in which there is also a mosque, without clothes.
On November 27, a civil court in Ajmer issued notices to the Ajmer Dargah committee, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the ASI after a petition was filed by Vishnu Gupta, national president of Hindu Sena, claiming that the dargah was originally a Shiva temple.
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