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When Ajmer came under
British control in 1818, it was one of the few cities in Rajputana outside the
hegemony of the princely states.
Monuments still standing as echoes of its colonial past include the Jubilee
clock tower opposite the railway station, the King Edward Memorial Hall a little
to the west and the famous Mayo College, originally built as a school for
princes, and now a leading educational institution known in society circles as
the "Eton of the East".
Perhaps the most bizarre sight in Ajmer is the mirrored Soniji-ki-Nashiya hall
adjoining the Nashiyan Jain temple, or "red temple" (daily 8am-5pm; Rs2).
Constructed in the 1820s by an Ajmeri diamond magnate, the hall commemorates the
life of Rishabha (or Adinath), the first Jain tirthankara, believed to have
lived countless aeons in the past.
From the uppermost of the three stores that surround it, you can look down on
musicians flying above the sacred Mount Sumeru on swans, peacocks and elephants
suspended on rods and strings.
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The display,
sealed in behind dust-blocking glass panels and doors, is made from 1000kg of
gold, extravagantly detailed in fantastic proportions appropriate to the realm
of legend. Admission to the main temple alongside is restricted to Jains.
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