Ajmer Court Admits Petition Claiming Hindu Temple Presence at Ajmer Dargah.

Hindutva Organisations Reclaim Iconic Ajmer Dargah as Court Admits Petition Claiming Hindu Temple Inside Shrine.

Radhika Panwar | HENB | Ajmer | Jan 20, 2026::  — In a development that has intensified debates around faith, history, and the judiciary’s role in religious disputes, a civil court in Ajmer has admitted a petition claiming the presence of a Hindu temple within the historic Ajmer Dargah, one of South Asia’s most revered Islamic shrines. The court’s decision has renewed concerns over the growing use of legal forums to challenge Muslim religious sites amid rising pressure from Hindu nationalist groups.

On Monday, the Ajmer civil court accepted the plea for hearing and issued notices to all respondents, including the Rajasthan state government, the Archaeology Department, and the Dargah Committee that manages the shrine. The matter is scheduled for its next hearing on February 21.

The petition was filed by Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, head of the Maharana Pratap Sena, a Hindu nationalist organization, through a Supreme Court advocate. Parmar has claimed that a Shivling dedicated to Lord Shiva exists within the dargah complex and that Hindu worship was allegedly conducted at the site in ancient times. To support his claim, he has submitted maps, photographs, survey-related materials, and affidavits, which he says were collected during a statewide mobilization campaign in Rajasthan.

The Ajmer Dargah, dedicated to the 13th-century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, holds immense religious and cultural significance for the Muslims including a section of Hindu devotees. It attracts millions of devotees every year, including Muslims, and followers of other faiths, who regard the shrine as a symbol of syncretic tradition and spiritual harmony. Given its stature, any legal challenge to its religious character carries deep symbolic, social, and political weight.

The court’s move comes amid a broader wave of litigation across India, where Hindu groups have approached courts seeking recognition of alleged Hindu temples at prominent Muslim religious sites. Similar claims are currently under judicial scrutiny at Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque and Mathura’s Shahi Idgah, effectively turning courts into arenas for disputes rooted in competing interpretations of history and faith.

Rights advocates and legal observers argue that such petitions often follow a recurring pattern: contested historical narratives are coupled with mass affidavit drives and political mobilization, placing institutional pressure on the judiciary. They warn that this trend risks normalizing the perception that long-standing Muslim religious spaces are temporary or open to redefinition.

The Ajmer case is also not an isolated effort. In 2024, Vishnu Gupta, President of the Hindu Sena, filed a separate petition making similar claims about the dargah. That plea was also admitted for hearing. Both petitions, along with an application filed by the Dargah Committee challenging these claims, are now slated to be heard together.

Meanwhile, some experts and commentators sympathetic to the petitioners argue that the litigation reflects what they describe as a “rightward turn” in India, with Hindus seeking to reclaim sites they believe were historically dominated or altered during periods of Islamic rule. They contend that the movement represents an assertion of Hindu identity and a re-examination of history. Critics, however, caution that such arguments risk deepening communal divisions and undermining the pluralistic fabric associated with sites like the Ajmer Dargah.

As the legal battle unfolds, the case is being closely watched nationwide, not only for its implications for the Ajmer shrine but also for what it signals about the evolving intersection of religion, politics, and the judiciary in contemporary India.
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_Agency Inputs.