Pushkar Festival- Rajasthan

In July I went backpacking with a close friend from london,where during journey I learnt about new travel experiences.  Now I was ready to travel solo or maybe just try .. So after a short break from travel the itch to travel was already over my mind.. The next destination I chose was Pushkar – which is one city in India that everybody is cognizant of and wishes to visit someday. This sacred city of Hindus, is only 10 km from the city of Ajmer in Rajasthan. The city of Pushkar is comfortably settled between hills from tri-directions and the magnificent golden desert form the remaining. Though the climatic variations border the extreme ranges as is the true for any desert the always city is abuzz with activities (Festivals, Fairs, Safaris, pilgrimages etc.) throughout the year.

This “Adi Tirtha” finds a revered mention in the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharat. Lord Bramha is supposed to have killed the asura Vajra Nabha with lotus flower. The asura was destroyed by the contact, and petals fell at three places. Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth – so say the epics – and Pushkar floated to the surface.
One of those places is Pushkar, where a lake was formed. Brahma performed sacrifice on a Kartik Purnima (full moon day in the Hindu Kartik month), sanctifying it.  Rows of sacred ghats front a mystically magnetic lake, where hundreds of milky-coloured temples and weather-touched domes sit beneath a shifting, pale grey sky.

After booking my flights tickets through Goibibo .com and Indigo directly, I set my journey as solo woman traveler on 22nd Nov to Jaipur. My travel plan is to visit he Pushkar Fair, or Pushkar ka Mela, which is the annual five-day camel and livestock fair, held in the town of Pushkar .  It is one of the world’s largest camel fairs, and apart from buying and selling of livestock it has become an important tourist attraction and its highpoints are the “matka phod“, “longest moustache”, and “bridal competition” are the main draws for this fair which attracts thousands of tourists. The festival concludes on the full moon of the Hindu lunar month of Kartika, which falls in October or November. Drawing in 50,000 camels and 200,000 people, the fair is ostensibly a time when Rajasthani farmers gather to buy and sell their camels, cattle and horses – most of the trading, however, is completed in the days leading up to the fair.

The next visit after festival is a  holy bath in the lake at Pushkar and worship at Brahma temple (one of the very few Brahma temples in the world) is held in very high regards.. Legends claim that, at one time, the shores of the Pushkar Lake were hosting 500 temples and 52 palaces (for numerous kings).

Apart of from religious places,  Pushkar has also insinuated itself to many for its wonderful shopping centers offering various fabrics, books, Handicraft goods, traditional and fusion music etc. Words of caution though not for me as being vegetarian ; avoid consumption of meat and meat products and alcohol within 5 km of Pushkar.

Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of the Hindus. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC. Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats (a series of steps leading to the lake), where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima(October–November) when the Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases.

Places to be seen in this trip:

1.Pushakr Lake

2. Aptaeshwar Temple

3. Brahma’s Temple

4. Rangji Temple

5. Merta

6.Pushkar Cattle Fair

Here is the tentative map of my travel, https://maps.google.co.in/maps/ms?msid=210043318736060096277.0004cbe0b07134020bb17&msa=0&ll=22.958393,74.333496&spn=13.247988,26.784668

Incase anybody wants to join reading travel plan, please letme know….being solo traveller dun mind company!

References and credits:

1. www.sulekha.com
2. www.wikipedia.com
3. www.about.com
4. www.rtdc.in
5. www.mustseeindia.com
6. www.lonelyplanet.com
   

   Pushkar Festival