Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra

Ajmer Dargah Sharif and 1.5 km from Ajmer Junction Railway Station, Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra is an ancient mosque situated near Dargah Sharif in Ajmer town of Rajasthan. It is one of the oldest mosques in India and also the oldest surviving monument in Ajmer. The site is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Adhai Din Ka Jhopra, a wonderful historic place is a mosque in Ajmer city of Rajasthan, India. This mosque was built from dismantled remains of the temple in just 2.5 days. It used to be a Sanskrit college in the 12th century but Mohammed of Ghori destroyed the college and decided to build a mosque which led to the construction of this elegant and breathtakingly beautiful mosque. Though most of the ancient temple is in ruins today, the area of the mosque is still used as a place of worship. Eid is the most appropriate time to visit because Eid leads to marvellous decorations and celebrations in this place.

Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra is an early example of the Indo-Islamic architecture and was designed by Abu Bakr of Herat. Built from masonry taken from broken down Hindu and Jain temples, the mosque has been surrounded by a seven arched wall that is inscribed with verses from the Quran. The mosque is entered through a simple gateway in the north, and on its right stands a ruined minaret. The gate leads to a stairway leading up to a small tower from where the muezzin (mosque official) called the faithful to prayer. The front facade consists of a number of small arches built of yellow limestone. The main arch is flanked by six smaller arches of Arab origin wherein tiny rectangular panels allowed for a lighting system, a feature found in ancient Arabian mosques.

The Mosque in Ajmer
The mosque was built up on the remains of a Sanskrit college. With materials from destroyed Hindu and Jain temples. It is one of the oldest famous mosques in India, and the oldest surviving monument in Ajmer. The mosque is among the earliest examples of the Indo-Islamic architecture. The mosque is much bigger than the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque of Delhi. The exterior of the building is a size of square-shaped, with each side measuring 259 feet. There are two entrance gate, one at the south, and another at the east.
The actual mosque site is on the western side has 10 domes and 124 pillars; there are 92 pillars on the eastern side; and 64 pillars on each of the remaining sides. Thus, there are 344 pillars in the whole building. Out of these, only 70 pillars still standing now. It has a square dimension measuring 80 m (260 ft). The sanctuary measures 43 m (141 ft) by 12 m (39 ft).

The Structure of Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra
The front elevation of the structure features a huge screen with yellow limestone arches, constructed during the reign of Iltutmish. Also, The archway attribute Kuffic and Tughra inscriptions and quotations from Koran, and is reminiscent of Islamic architecture from Ghazni and Turkistan. Some of the carvings attribute Arabesque floral and foliate patterns; their geometric symmetry is something reminiscent of Persian tilework. Also, The Hindu motif is similar to the ones seen in the 10th-century structures at Nagda and the 11th-century Sas-bahu Temple at Gwalior.