Location of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra, History of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra, Architecture of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra, Visiting hours in Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra.
Location of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra:
This Mosque is also known as Jama Al-Tamish and is situated in Ankerkot at the foot of Taragarh Hill on the outskirts of Ajmer City in District Ajmer, Rajasthan.
History of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra:
The origin of this splendidly-built Mosque has remained a subject of diverse opinions. It is said that it was built as a Sanskrit College (some say as a Saraswati Temple) in 1153 A.D. by King Visaldeva, a Chauhan ruler. In the Year 1192 A.D., when Mohammad Ghori of Ghazni defeated King Prithviraj Chauhan of Delhi and Ajmer, he destroyed the original structure and used the recovered material in the construction of the Mosque. He added a seven-arched screen wall covered with Islamic calligraphy and bearing minarets in front of the pillared hall. Hence, its construction took only two and a half days.
But an Arabic inscription appearing on the marble arch in the centre of the mosque indicates that it was a mosque ever since its origin and was built by Sultan Mohammad Ghori in the 12th century A.D., wherein Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti himself is said to have offered his prayers for a considerable time. Later on, Sultan Shams-ud-din Iltutmish of Delhi (1211-1236 A.D.) built its present massive structure of red stone, which was completed in 1219 A.D. by Ali Ahmed mason under the supervision of one Mohammed Ariz – a claim which is also supported by another Arabic inscrition on its central arch. In any case, this magnificent mosque is one of the rare historic monuments of India.
Architecture of Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra:
This Mosque is a masterpiece of Indo-Islamic architecture. As legend goes, it was constructed in two and a half days (known as Adhi-Din in Hindi), hence its name. Another opinion is that it was given the name after a Festival which lasted for 2-1/2 days. The claim that it was built in two and half days is also difficult to accept due to its being an extensive and massive stony structure having extremely fine and most intricate workmanship on stone and bearing a rich variety of Quranic Verses all over its surface. It is built on pillars and surprisingly no two pillars are alike. It really is a model of excellent architecture and an example of surface decoration.
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