Inside Ajmer Dargah

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After a whirlwind trip to Pushkar in an extremely crowded local bus and being hoodwinked by a zealous auto rickshaw driver into a fool's errand to check a spot ( The deal, we came to know later, was to go on a camel ride for exorbitant rates. We refused....Ours was a shoestring budget - the kind of shoestring where you tie a knot and hang on for dear life!!), we were ready to go sightseeing in Ajmer. ( Do visit the Pushkar valley  - The route is breathtaking.) We visited the Ajmer Dargah at dusk.

 The road to the Dargah is very crowded and filled with tourists, pilgrims, shop vendors and 'streetfood eaters'. Fairy lights twinkle overhead and  shine in children's festive clothes. The most unique shops are of the loban sellers -  I was astounded by the sheer variety of frankincense/ loban that are there. There were times when these shops looked more like a halwaii/ sweetshop than those selling joss sticks and perfumed resins!

I couldn't make much of an impression about the dargah - we were jostled and pushed, and there wasn't a chance to get a good look. This illustration is a color study I did to get a sense of how colors merge and separate. When the man was standing near a recess with an ornate wall, I liked how he completed the composition. 


Location: Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

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