Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra
| Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra | |
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Screen wall of the mosque
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 Location in Rajasthan, India
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Andar Kot Rd, Lakhan Kothri |
| Geographic coordinates | 26°27′18″N 74°37′31″E / 26.455071°N 74.6252024°ECoordinates: 26°27′18″N 74°37′31″E / 26.455071°N 74.6252024°E |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Municipality | Ajmer |
| State | Rajasthan |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Abu Bakr of Herat |
| Architectural style | early Indo-Islamic |
| Founder | Qutb al-Din Aibak |
| Groundbreaking | 1192 CE |
| Completed | 1199 CE |
Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra (literally "shed of 2½ days") is a mosque in the Ajmer city of Rajasthan, India. It was commissioned by Qutb-ud-Din-Aibak, on orders of Muhammad Ghori, in 1192 CE. It was completed in 1199 CE, and further beautified by Iltutmish of Delhi in 1213 CE. The mosque was constructed on the remains of a Sanskrit college, with materials from destroyed Hindu and Jain temples. It is one of the oldest mosques in India, and the oldest surviving monument in Ajmer.
An early example of the Indo-Islamic architecture, most of the building was constructed by Hindu masons, under the supervision of Afghan managers. It is also known as Arhai Din ka Jhompra or Dhai Din ki Masjid; Alexander Cunningham described it as the "Great Mosque of Ajmer". The site is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The site of the mosque was originally a Sanskrit college building commissioned by Vigraharaja IV (alias Visaladeva), a king of the Shakambhari Chahamana (Chauhan) dynasty. The original building was square-shaped, with a tower-chhatri (dome-shaped pavilion) at each corner. A temple dedicated to Sarasvati was located on the western side. A tablet dated to 1153 CE was found at the site in the 19th century; based on this, it can be inferred that the original building must have been constructed sometime before 1153 CE.
The relics in the modern building show both Hindu and Jain features. According to KDL Khan, the building materials were taken from Hindu and Jain temples. According to Caterina Mercone Maxwell and Marijke Rijsberman, the Sanskrit college was a Jain institution, and the building materials were taken from Hindu temples. ASI Director-General Alexander Cunningham hypothesized that the pillars used in the building were probably taken from 20–30 demolished Hindu temples, which featured at least 700 pillars in total. Based on the pillar inscriptions, he concluded that these original temples dated to 11th or 12th century CE. According to the local Jain tradition, the building was originally constructed by Seth Viramdeva Kala in 660 CE as a Jain shrine to celebrate Panch Kalyanaka.
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