The long-standing dispute over the Ajmer Sharif Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and the Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple took a new turn on Wednesday after Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta filed a fresh petition in the Ajmer Civil Court (West) No. 1.
Gupta has demanded that the area inside the Dargah complex, where he claims a temple once existed, be immediately sealed and CCTV cameras installed to preserve what he calls “crucial evidence.” He alleged that ongoing activities in the disputed area could lead to the destruction or tampering of evidence, which might affect a fair investigation.
In his petition, Gupta also urged the court to protect the portion of the site where he claims a picture of Lord Shiva is engraved on a wall and a Shivalinga is present. The court has fixed the next hearing for October 17, 2025.
The controversy first began in September 2024 when Gupta filed an earlier petition asserting that the Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple once stood within the boundaries of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, one of India’s most prominent Sufi shrines. The earlier case named the Dargah Committee of Khwaja Garib Nawaz, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as respondents.
