Pushkar

Pushkar, India

A flickering brass lamp on the stone steps of Pushkar Lake at sunset.

Pushkar is a small lakeside town in Rajasthan, where pilgrims bathe in a sacred lake and visit one of India's few Brahma temples.

The place

Pushkar sits on the shore of a semi-circular lake in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan, about ten kilometres northwest of Ajmer. Hills rise on three sides of the town, and the ridge known as Nag Pahar, or Snake Mountain, forms a natural boundary between Pushkar and Ajmer. At around 510 metres above sea level, the town sits high enough that the air feels fresher than on the plains, though summer afternoons remain hot. The population is a little over twenty thousand, so the centre can be covered on foot in an afternoon. Most visitors spend their days moving between the lake, the temples on the lower slopes and the narrow market lanes that run down towards the water.

The lake is the reason the town exists as a pilgrimage place. Hindu tradition treats it as the most sacred of the pilgrimage sites, and a visit is considered incomplete without a dip in its water. Stone steps called ghats descend on nearly every side, and small temples painted blue stand along the shore. Early in the morning the ghats fill with people bathing, washing clothes and leaving flowers, and the scene is far calmer than the midday crowds suggest. Later in the day the atmosphere shifts towards the bazaar, where stalls sell silver, bangles, cotton textiles and prayer beads.

Pushkar is compact enough to see in two or three days, but it rewards slow walking. Lakeside paths are best in the cool of the morning, and the climb to the hilltop temples is easier before the sun is high. The town is a working religious centre first and a holiday resort second, which keeps its character intact.

Its story

Pushkar lies close to some of the oldest geological structures in India, the Aravalli hills, and the ground around it has yielded traces of settlement that reach back to ancient times. Microliths found near the villages of Khera and Kaderi suggest that early people used the area. Excavations nearby have produced red ware and painted grey ware, which confirm an ancient presence. Brahmi script inscriptions, thought to predate the reign of the emperor Ashoka, have come from the village of Badli. Objects resembling the artefacts of Mohenjo-daro have also been found in the hills, although scholars doubt they belonged to the same culture and may have been carried there later.

Pushkar is named in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas, which tie the town to the sacred geography of Hinduism. Many texts from the first millennium mention it, but these works are religious rather than historical. They show what the place meant to devotees, not what happened there. The earliest historical records that name Pushkar and nearby Ajmer come from Islamic chronicles describing raids and conquests across the north-west of the subcontinent.

Records connected with the conquest of Muhammad of Ghor in 1192 CE mention the region after his defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan. Afterwards the area passed to Qutb-ud-din Aibak. The Chahamanas of Ranastambhapura took it back in 1287, but the Delhi Sultanate regained control in 1301, and it stayed under Muslim rule for many centuries. Through these changes the lake and its temples remained at the heart of local life, which is one reason the pilgrimage tradition survived.

What to see

Culture

Pushkar is a working pilgrimage town, and its rhythm follows the religious calendar more than the tourist one. The lake is treated as sacred, so bathing, offerings of flowers and quiet prayer happen on the ghats from early morning. The Brahma temple holds a life-size image of the god, and the town's identity rests on the rarity of such a shrine.

The annual fair is when the town changes most. For five days, villagers from the surrounding countryside gather for trade, festivities and one of the country's great cattle markets. Thousands of camels arrive to be sold. Before sale, animals are washed, decorated and sometimes shorn into patterns, and the bazaar fills with music and stalls. For local families it is a busy working week rather than a stage set, so the best approach is to watch with patience and stay out of the way of traders and herders.

Pushkar also has a significant Sikh presence, with gurdwaras dedicated to Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. Locals and pilgrims of many faiths share the ghats. Beggars sometimes approach visitors with flowers and then ask for payment for a blessing, and a polite refusal is usually enough. Remove your shoes before entering any temple, and ask before photographing anyone at prayer or bathing in the lake.

What to wear

Pushkar's traditional dress belongs to the wider Rajasthani style, and it is most visible at weddings, festivals and the autumn fair. Women traditionally wear the ghagra, a full pleated skirt, with a fitted choli blouse and a long odhni scarf. Odhnis often come in bandhani tie-dye, where cloth is bound with thread and dyed in tiny knots, or in block prints and mirror-work embroidery. Men wear a kurta with a dhoti or churidar trousers, and a folded turban called a safa is common among older men and at celebrations. Footwear is often the mojari, a soft leather slipper with a turned-up toe. Cotton, silk and wool all have a place, and the richest pieces carry zari gold thread.

In everyday life the town looks more mixed. Many local women wear the salwar kameez, and younger people often wear jeans with a kurta or a T-shirt. Men usually wear trousers and shirts, keeping the turban for weddings. The fair brings out the most colour, when herders and visitors arrive in embroidered clothes and the camels are decorated.

A visitor should choose light, loose cotton or linen that covers the shoulders and knees, especially for temple visits. A shawl or scarf is useful for covering the head or shoulders inside shrines. Closed shoes that are easy to slip off suit the temples, because the ghat steps are stone and worn smooth. For the climb to the Savitri temple, shoes with grip matter more. Flip-flops are fine along the lakeside but poor on the hill paths, and a hat helps in the midday sun.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. December to February is the most comfortable window, while the autumn fair falls in October or November, when days are still hot. The monsoon from June to September turns the surrounding hills green, but the humidity is high and some paths get slippery. Summers are hot, and the midday sun is hardest to bear in May and June, the hottest months.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. The nearest airport is in Jaipur, about three hours by road. The most practical rail link is Ajmer, about ten kilometres away, which has good connections across India. From Ajmer station, a taxi takes about half an hour, or a bus from Ajmer bus station reaches Pushkar for a small fare.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources