Mandawa - Pushkar

Brahma Temple in Pushkar

After our sightseeing in Mandawa we leave for Pushkar, one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage sites for devout Hindus). It is often called "Tirth Raj" - the king of pilgrimage sites - and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists.

Pushkar is one of the oldest cities of India and lies on the shore of Pushkar lake. Legend associates Lord Brahma with its creation. It is mentioned that Brahma performed penance here for 60,000 years to have a glimpse of Vishnu.
(Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva)

Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples are not very old, since many were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area, the destroyed temples were re-built. The most famous among all is the Brahma temple, built during the 14th century AD. Pushkar lake has 52 ghats, a series of steps leading down to the water, where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters. Pushkar is also famous for its annual Camel Fair.

Pushkar also means blue lotus flower in Sanskrit. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagna. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar.

Pushkar Lake

For me Pushkar was probably the town with the most appealing atmosphere.
Imagine lots of pilgrims, colourfully dressed women and narrow streets packed with shops, tea stands, market stands selling all kinds of wares and foods, cows, monkeys and dogs.
Actually, this town smells like hippies and backpackers to me ;D

Before we went to visit the Brahma temple Hilde warned me about the local "maffia" tricking tourists out of their money. I consider myself a rather experienced traveler but even I got tricked by their scheme and lost 30 euros.
They are actually very wicked, they "meet" you when you visit the Brahma temple where you get offerings (flowers), these offerings get a blessing at the temple and from the temple you need to walk to the lake for prayer. After the prayer it's customary that you throw your blessed flowers in the lake to get good fortune.
It's at the lake that the trap closes. Once you get to the lake you're approached by a priest (a fake one but you don't know the difference), he guides you to the lake and performs the rituals with you. Part of the ritual is repeating a mantra that he's saying, actually you need to repeat everything he says and before you realised it you promised to give a major "donation".
Once you start objecting they take you on your promise and start playing on your feelings because in the ritual we asked good fortune for our loved ones and ofc we don't want to be greedy when it comes to the good luck of those we love, now do we ?
Neither do we want to be disrespectful to their customs and religion, all these things together make you feel very insecure and before you know it you end up paying, very tricky basterds indeed ;D
One of those tricksters even had the nerve to ask me for a tip for walking me from the temple to the lake but at that time I was pretty angry and my looks could kill. Luckily for him he got my silent message and he left.... in one piece.

Apart from the taunts Pushkar is very enjoyable and I loved strolling in the small streets, watching all those different types of people passing by (I especially liked those beautiful Indian women with their colourful sari's) and trying to get a good deal in the local shops => got me some nice linen baggy trousers and linen shirts for practically nothing ;D