Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is one of the main festivals celebrated in Ajmer. This festival is celebrated in the month of May and is considered to be one of the most religious festivals in India. The festival is organized and conducted at Dargah Shariff which the holy shrine of the Sufi saint and pilgrims irrespective of whether they are Muslims or of any religion, visit the Dargah during the festival.
Urs marks the death anniversary of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and devotees from all corners of the world visit the Dargah to pay their homage. During Urs the entire ambiance in Ajmer gets euphoric with night long qawaali sessions and prayer meeting being held in not only the Dargah but at homes as well. People offer chaddars (blankets) to the tomb, which marks as a sign of resting.
The festival continues for six days featuring dhikr or zikr Qawwali songs that are sung all the night long.
History Behind the Festival
Urs of Moinuddin Chishti is believed to have started being celebrated in the year 1212 and since then it is celebrated every year during the first week of the Islamic month of Rajab after seeing the moon in the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. Drum beats are used to herald the inauguration of this grand annual ceremony at the Dargah Sharif.
Urs is a term that has been derived from the term “Uroos” meaning “the ultimate meeting of God with a normal human being”. Legend has it that the Sufi saint spent the last six days of his entire life in isolation in a prayer room known as Huzra and it was on the sixth day of Rajab that the saint died.