Pushkar - place of cultural beauty

Lake view Trip
Jun 7, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Oct 9, 2019

According to legend, Pushkar, fifteen kilometers northwest of Ajmer, was born when Lord Brahma, the Creator, dropped a lotus flower ( pushpa ) from his hand ( cart ) onto the earth. At the three places where the petals fell, water miraculously appeared in the middle of the desert and formed three blue lakes.

King of Kings

On the banks of the largest, Brahma then convened a meeting of some 900,000 celestial beings: the entire Hindu pantheon. The lake is surrounded by whitewashed temples and ghats for bathing and is today revered as one of the holiest places in India : Pushkaraj Maharaj, literally 'Pushkar, King of Kings'.

Largest camel market

It is believed that during the auspicious full moon of October / November (the anniversary of the mass gathering of the gods, or yagya ), the water cleanses the soul of all impurities. This annual religious festival attracts pilgrims from all over the country. If you make a plan to visit in pushkar and find a vehicle then you should go with Lake Vies Trip, It is located in udaipur and providing best car rental service in udaipur.

In addition, Rajasthan villagers trade cattle on what has become the world's largest camel market ( unt mela ), where more than 150,000 traders, tourists, and interested people populate the dunes west of the lake.

Temple on hilltop

There are more than five hundred temples in and around Pushkar, although some, such as the magnificent Vishnut temple, are forbidden to non-Hindus. The main shrine of Pushkar, the Brahma Temple, houses a four-headed statue of Brahma, and is one of the few temples in India dedicated to him.

On a platform raised in the middle of the courtyard is the always busy hall, surrounded on three sides by smaller shrines with flat roofs that offer a view over the desert, on the Savitrit temple on a neighboring hilltop.

The one-hour climb to the top of that hill is rewarded with unparalleled views of the city and the desert. It is best to try to reach the summit before sunrise, although it is also wonderful to see the sun set here. The temple itself is modern, but the statue of Savitri would date from the seventh century. The Gayitrit temple (Pap Mochini Mandir), on a hill east of the city, also offers beautiful views, especially at sunrise.

More from Pushkar

Everything in Pushkar revolves around the lake, although it was almost dry at the time of writing because it was drained for cleaning in 2009. If all goes well, the monsoon will refill it naturally if there is enough rain.

The lake is surrounded by five hundred beautiful whitewashed temples, connected to the water via 52 ghats , staircases: one for each Rajasthan Maharaja, who built separate guest houses for their visit to Pushkar.

Famous ghats

The main ghat is Gau Ghat, sometimes also called Main Ghat, from where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri were scattered in the lake.

Brahma Ghat is where Brahma himself performed his rituals, while at the great Varaha Ghat, near the market square, Vishnu would have appeared in the form of Varaha (a wild boar), the third of his nine earthly incarnations. At all ghats, visitors must take off their shoes at a respectful distance from the lake, and you are not allowed to smoke or photograph there.

Indian and western tourists are invited by local brahmins priests to perform a ritual at the lake, Pushkar Puja. This means repeating prayers while throwing rose leaves into the lake and then giving a donation.

Pushkar passport

After completion of the puja, a red thread from a temple is tied around your wrist. This is called by the locals the "Pushkar Passport," and it means that you are no longer bothered by intrusive priests and you can walk unhindered to the ghats.

Indians usually give INR 21 or INR 31, and INR 51 or at most INR 101 should be enough for a foreigner. A favorite trick of mostly (fake) priests is asking how much you want to pay, then saying a prayer to all members of your family and asking that amount for every blessed family member. Don't be forced to give more than agreed.