Pilgrims, tourists, and hippies keep flocking to the small town of Pushkar. They come for the Brahma Temple, Pushkar Lake, Pushkar Camel Fair, and the chill vibe.
It was November. It was the start of winter. It was neither too hot nor too cold. Winter is the best and perfect time to visit Pushkar and Ajmer. As usual any journey to a new place came pre-loaded with excitement. I went with a travel group, ChaloLetsGo who organized this trip. I hardly knew anyone in the group. All were complete strangers.
On the day of the depature from Delhi, we boarded a private local bus for Pushkar. We slept throughout the journey. We only opened our sleepy eyes when the bus reached its destination early next morning. The very first thought that strucked me as we disembarked from the bus and walked was "What a clean town Pushkar is!" Jaipur is all pink. Jodhpur is all blue. And Pushkar is all white. As we walked towards our guesthouse, the early morning sights and sounds kept me occupied. Once we reached our modest guesthouse in the main bazaar, we quickly freshened up and rushed to a nearby restaurant named "Little Tibet Garden Restaurant & Germany Bakery" for a wholesome breakfast. The place was festooned with colourful Tibetan prayer flags. We hogged the breakfast because everyone was hungry. Once our early morning hunger was taken care of, we went exploring the streets and markets of Pushkar.
We had four full days in Pushkar. Now the obvious question arises...what to do and see in Pushkar in four days.🤔
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| guesthouse in Pushkar where we stayed |
The best way to explore the small town of Pushkar is by walking. Your two legs are your best bet. The main market is the nerve centre of Pushkar. The streets were lined with innumerable shops, big and small, selling all kinds of commercial things. These shops are also a great place to purchase Rajasthani souvenir such as puppets, cloth bags, trinkets, paintings, clothes, and so on. The souvenir shops are ethnic, eclectic, and colourful. Then there were also those hole in the wall kind of tiny shops.
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| souvenirs at a shop in Pushkar |
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| shop shop till you drop in Pushkar |
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| books bound in leather cover sold in Pushkar |
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| sadhus in Pushkar |
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| market street in Pushkar |
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| a tourist with a tattoo arm |
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| everyday things at a stall in Pushkar |
When you travel in Rajasthan, the familiar sight of Rajasthani local women in bright coloured traditional dresses always captured your attention without fail. I found it so fascinating to see them draped in bright pink, orange, yellow, and red coloured traditional dress. Pink and yellow colour dominated. The men's colourful turban equally fascinated me. My not-so-good camera went on overdrive capturing these local men and women in their colourful traditional Rajasthani attires.
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| colourful turbans |
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| local man and woman of Pushkar |
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| faces of Pushkar folks |
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| bright coloured traditional Rajasthani attires |
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| vibrant hues seen in Pushkar |
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| shades of pink in Pushkar |
It must be pointed out that the trip was during the popular Pushkar Camel Fair. It was the high point of my trip to witness the colour, spectacle, and carnival of Pushkar Camel Fair. The field where this camel fair was held was located away from the main town at the edge of Thar Desert. It gave a rustic feeling and looked astoundingly chaotic with camels, horses, local Rajathani men and women, tourists...the noise and commotion and the chattering. Life went on in all this chaos. You get the picture? Imagine the sight of literally hundreds of camels, small and big, in one place! It was a camel'ly' sight!😀 Besides camels, there were a few batches of horses kept around makeshift stables, too. The locals as well as village folk from far and near came to sell and to buy camels. We asked a few sellers the cost of the animals. One of the sellers quoted "eight lakhs" for his horse. Eight lakhs! Gasp!🤤 The horse must have been of high breed quality. I must admit the black horse looked majestic. Some village folk were seen arriving on carts loaded with dozen of bunches of sugarcane to be sold at the fair. Some were seen carrying away those bunches. The camel rides at the fair were expensive. The high fare did not dither the foreign tourists and the rich Indian tourists to take a camel ride around the fair ground. One could also see the senior village folks exploiting their young kids to sing, to dance, to play musical instruments for the hordes of tourists. Why let the young kids do it? It would have been much appropriate if the youth and the grown-ups could have done it instead of letting the young kids do it. To be honest that was not a pleasing sight.
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| camels at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| earthen pots on sale at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| bunches of sugarcanes at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| hello camel |
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| the fair ground of Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| camel and sunset |
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| a family with their bunch of sugarcane |
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| camels quenching their thirst at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| camels and sunset |
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| tourists enjoying camel rides at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| decorated camels at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| one for the memories at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| locals returning from the fair |
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| a camel owner with his camels at Pushkar Camel Fair |
In all this chaos, what was conspicuous were the hordes of photographers to capture the glory and spectacle of Pushkar Camel Fair. The photographers were either professionals or amateurs. Pushkar Camel Fair is a photographer's delight. These photographers could be seen lugging around their heavy and expensive DSLR and tripods; and using
every possible angle to get the best shot. We got to know that "every year the number of photographers are increasing and the number of camels are reducing at the fair". This is a grave issue and needed to be looked into. Grave because camels are the main attraction of Pushkar Camel Fair. If the number of camels are reducing at the fair then what will the fair be about...? Pushkar Camel Fair without camels is unimaginable.
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| photographers in action at Pushkar Camel Fair |
How can I not mention the beautiful sunset as seen during the fair! We went up a small hill near the fair ground to get a better view of the sunset. People were already there either sitting on plastic chairs or either standing around and waiting for the sunset. Slowly and slowly as daylight dimmed, the sunset was in all its magnificent splendour. The evening sky was painted in radiant hues of red, crimson, yellow, orange, and what not. Speechless at the view! It was calm all around, only the faint sound from the fair ground could be heard, and a slight evening chill had set in.
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| sunset at Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| many shades of sunset colours as seen during Pushkar Camel Fair |
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| sunset colouring the evening sky |
Whether it was during morning or afternoon or evening or night, every visit to Pushkar Lake/Sarovar had been peaceful. I have never visited a ghat before. The ghat at Pushkar Lake was my first experience. It was a single waterbody, but many ghats around it. We strolled around the lake and circumbulated, sat on the steps of the ghat, and marvelled at everything happening around the ghat. It was Karthik Purnima considered auspicious in Hindu calendar. We witnessed devotees doing ablution and offering prayers. I don't mind devotees worshipping and bathing at the ghats. But being an individual with a rational mind, I couldn't bring myself to take a dip in the murky waters of the Pushkar Lake. The evening aarti at the ghat had a calming influence on me. The beautiful backdrop of the full moon added to the magical atmosphere during the aarti.
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| Pushkar Lake as seen at night |
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| one of the many ghats of Pushkar Lake |
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| Pushkar Lake during day |
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| notice board at Pushkar Lake |
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| look at the birds at Pushkar Lake |
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| a man sits at the ghat of Pushkar Lake |
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| ghats of Pushkar Lake |
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| as dusk sets in Pushkar Lake |
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| evening aarti at Pushkar Lake |
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| full moon as seen from Pushkar Lake |
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| peace and serenity at Pushkar Lake |
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| direction for ghats at the market area |
Can an Indian temple ever be quiet? Why is it always noisy? Why is it difficult for the devotees and visitors to keep quiet and maintain the decorum and sanctity of a worshipping place? These days without the customary long security checks, we cannot imagine entering the threshold of a temple. The flower sellers near the entrance of a temple wouldn't stop following you and cajoling you into buying their puja stuff. Our visit to Brahma Temple was a quick one. There are a few Brahma temples in India. The Brahma Temple of Pushkar is the most prominent one. It is dedicated to Lord Brahma. It is constructed in marble and easily recognised by its distinctive red spire. A flight of steps lead to the temple. Few of us quickly went inside the temple, did our prayers, and quickly came out without loitering there.
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| Brahma Temple in Pushkar |
Rangji Temple is another important temple in Pushkar. It is located in the main market area. The temple is dedicated to Lord Rangji, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The high rising gopurams of the temple shows the distinctive style of southern India temples. The courtyard of the temple is a spacious one.
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| Rangji Temple in Pushkar |
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| gopurams of Rangji Temple in Pushkar |
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| a priest of Rangji Temple in Pushkar |
During our visit, we got the opportunity to watch cultural programmes at the courtyard of Rangji Temple at night.
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| cultural programmes of Indian dances |
Sri Panchkund Shiva temple is another temple that we decided to go and check out. It is located at a few kms from the town.
Panch means five;
Kund means a tank/pond/reservoir. It is believed the temple was built by the five
Pandavas from
Mahabharata. Lots of local monkeys abound near this temple. So be careful of these small naughty animals.
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| Panchkund Shiva temple in Pushkar |
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| a sadhu at Panchkund Shiva temple |
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| be careful of monkeys at Panchkund Shiva temple |
We made our way to Gurudwara Singh Sabha located near the bus stand. It is a white-coloured double storey gurudwara. This gurudwara was built to commemorate the visit of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind to Pushkar.
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| Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Ajmer |
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| Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Ajmer |
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| an artist busy outside Gurudwara Singh Sabha |
A beautiful Kalbelia performance regaled all of us one particular evening at an open courtyard in Sai Baba Haveli Restaurant. The fire breathing/eating dance was riveting to watch. It looked dangerous, too. The man held two fire rods in his hands and filled his mouth with kerosene oil. He danced a few steps going round in circles with the accompaniment of music and then out of the blue, created a stream of fire from the mouth on the flame. Some of us joined the female Kalbelia dancers and matched steps with them. It was my first try to do a few steps of this particular dance.😀 It was fun.
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| fire breathing performance in Pushkar |
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| enthralling fire breathing performance |
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| kalbelia dance |
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| female dancers performing Kalbelia dance |
How can I not mention the many delicacies I devoured in Pushkar!😄Pushkar has a number of restaurants, chai shops, juice shops, and cute cafés that dotted every nook and corner of this cozy town. Some of my best meals I savoured and relished during any trip was in this very town. Nom nom nom...
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| baked wheat balls (bati) |
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| morning breakfast at a restaurant |
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| malpua |
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| menu of a restaurant |
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| street food in Pushkar |
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| boiling milk |
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| sumptuous Rajasthani thali |
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| dinner being prepared at a restaurant |
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| candy floss preparation |
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| fruitful and healthy |
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| jalebi at a stall in Pushkar |
Four of us wanted to go for a quick day trip to Ajmer. We hired a cab at Pushkar on the third day of our stay. Early morning we left for Ajmer. The road from Pushkar to Ajmer was a good one. We arrived at Ajmer without any difficulty in an hour. Our main intention to visit Ajmer was obviously to go to Dargah Shariff. It is the resting place of Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti who was a Sufi saint. The Dargah Shariff was built by the Mughals. It's a famous landmark of Ajmer and pretty easy to find the location. It was more of a tourist visit for us and not a pilgrimage. A lively bazaar leads to Dargah Shariff. We entered the courtyard through a high gateway. Naturally the courtyard of Dargah Shariff was crowded and brimming with religious fervour. We bought small baskets of fresh rose petals from a nearby shop as offering. There are stainless steel railings which acted as a barrier between the sanctum sanctorum and the visitors. The clerics were seen standing next to the sanctum sanctorum. We could hardly stand inside...devotees jostled, elbowed, and pushed each other. It was claustrophobic. In addition it came as a shock when I saw the clerics asking money for the blessings and offerings. It disgusted me.
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| the tall gateway to Dargah Sharif in Ajmer |
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| devotees queue to enter the sanctum sanctorum |
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| water kept at goat skin bags at Dargah Sharif |
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| fragrant rose petals on sale at Dargah Sharif |
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| Dargah Sharif in Ajmer |
And just like that the trip came to an end. That's what we did, see, and eat in Pushkar and Ajmer. Didn't realize how the four happy days filled with lots of sightseeing and exploring this small and serene town passed by. People whom I met as strangers at the beginning of the trip became friends by the end of the trip. It was time to bid adieu once again. People come and go. Pushkar will always be there welcoming visitors to come and experience it.
Given below is the link to another must do activity in Pushkar:
https://thehaflonggirl.blogspot.com/2019/08/sunrise-hike-to-gayatri-temple-in.html?m=1
Thank you for stopping by!
Happy Travelling feet!
Travelled on: 14-17 November 2013
©All contents and images are copyright of Hema Hazarika (thehaflonggirl).
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