Civil court admits petition claiming presence of ancient Shiva temple inside Ajmer Dargah

Notices issued to Rajasthan Government, Archaeological Survey of India and Dargah Committee

Ajmer (Rajasthan) – The Ajmer civil court has admitted a petition filed by the Maharana Pratap Sena claiming that an ancient Shiva temple exists inside the Ajmer Dargah complex. The court has issued notices to the Rajasthan Government, the Archaeological Survey of India and the Dargah Committee, making them parties to the case. The next hearing in the matter will be held on 21 February.

“If excavation is carried out at the Dargah, Mahadev will be found” – Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, President, Maharana Pratap Sena

Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, President of the Maharana Pratap Sena, stated that the site currently known as the Ajmer Dargah was originally part of Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan’s Ajaymeru city. According to him, an ancient temple of Bhagwan Shankar still exists in a closed condition beneath the Ajmer Dargah. He said this issue is not limited only to documents. To support this demand, their organisation had undertaken a foot march of about 7,800 kilometres across Rajasthan. During this journey, they collected 1,25,000 signatures, and an affidavit containing these signatures has been submitted to the court. He added that this issue is connected with the faith of crores of Hindus, and if excavation is carried out at the Dargah, Mahadev alone will be found.

Advocate A P Singh, representing the Sena, informed the court that they possess old revenue department maps and old photographs of a Shivling, which clearly show that worship had been carried out at this place for centuries in the past.

Court clarifies Rajvardhan Singh as the main petitioner

Earlier, a petition regarding this Dargah had also been filed; however, the court has now recognised Rajvardhan Singh as the main petitioner in this case. The reason cited by the court is that in 2022, he had submitted a representation on this issue to the President. The court acknowledged that he was the first to take initiative on this matter. Now, the Dargah Committee and the State Government will have to present their side before the court.