'Chadar' for Dargah Ajmer Sharif from Harvard Divinity School

Ajmer, May 16
A "chadar" (holy cloth) was presented at the Dargah Ajmer Sharif here on behalf of the Dean of Harvard University's Harvard Divinity School, David N. Hempton.

"The 'chadar' was offered in the presence of a group of underprivileged children of Ajmer by Elizabeth Lee-Hood, research associate, Harvard Divinity School," said Dargah Ajmer Sharif "Gaddi Nashin" Haji Syed Salman Chishty.

He is also the director of the Chishty Foundation.

Hempton sent a message on the occasion of the ongoing 803rd annual Urs celebrations of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty here, praising the long-standing Chishty Sufi traditions of serving the Divine by serving all humanity.

"The Sufi traditions without distinctions of religion, race, caste or class are an inspiration and highly relevant to the work that we in our new Initiative on Religions and the Practice of Peace, are aspiring to do to foster global harmony," Hempton said.

This is the first time that the prestigious university, renowned globally, has sent a "chadar" to the Dargah Ajmer Sharif.

Last month, US President Barack Obama had also sent a red-coloured, richly-embroidered "chadar" on behalf of the people of his country -- the first time that a non-south Asian country's head had made such a gesture in the Dargah's eight-centuries-old history.