VHP leaders, Jain monks visit historical Ajmer mosque, claim temple existed there: Report

Several leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and a group of Jain monks on Tuesday visited ‘Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra’ in Ajmer and claimed that a Sanskrit school and a Jain temple existed there. Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra is an ASI-protected mosque in Ajmer. The monks were led by Sunil Sagar Maharaj. They reached the monument from Fawara Circle via Dargah Bazaar, news agency PTI reported on Tuesday.

The Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra is contemporary to the mosque at the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi. It is also known as Quwal-ul-Islam mosque. As per ASI, the monument was built by Qutub-ud-Din-Aibak, the first Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, in AD 1199. 

“Sultan Iltutmish had subsequently beautified it in AD 1213 with a screen pierced by corbelled engrailed arches which appears in this country for the first time,” the ASI said.

It added: “A large number of architectural members and 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.”

The government agency said that the name Adhai din ka Jhonpra is possibly driven from the fact that a fair used to be held here for two and a half days.

“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,” the ASI said.

Deputy Mayor of Ajmer Municipal Corporation Neeraj Jain said that demands to redevelop Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra have been raised in the past as well.

“We have in the past demanded that the monument should be redeveloped and its past glory restored," Jain said. "There are idols kept in a store room in the monument."