Pushkar is the second stop on my 3-stop itinerary of the Indian state of Rajasthan, the dusty, crumbling, ancient Land of Kings & home of the Rajputs, strong Hindu warrior caste clans with a passionate belief in the dictates of chivalry who controlled this part of India for more than a millennia. But Rajasthan or not there’s no warring past, forts or palaces here in Pushkar. Oh no. It’s a holy place & here it’s all about religion. There’s a mythological significance attached to this place. According to myth, Brahma, The Creator & one of the three major deities of the Hindu religion, dropped a lotus flower on the earth and Pushkar floated to the surface. Today it’s an important Hindu pilgrimage site, a tranquil town on the banks of a natural & sacred lake & on the edge of a desert. It’s awash with temples, the most famous being the Brahma Temple, the only one in India dedicated to Brahma.
Pushkar is awash with temples and its lake is surrounded by no less than 52 ghats, stairways attached to a temple & leading down to a landing on the water. Signs abound requesting people not joke around or take pictures near the ghats. Of course been told not to do something brings the renegade out in some, me included. In my defense, it’s an immensely photogenic place & it was a difficult exercise in abstinence to sit there with my camera stowed in my bag; it was especially difficult at sunset when the lake and its surrounds are bathed in soft, inviting light. This picture was taken rather stealthy on my first evening in town, the only time I attempted any kind of photography when down by the lake. On the steps of a lakeside ghat at sunset in Pushkar (
), Rajasthan, India
A few other captures from my time dodging cows & Sadu, Hindu holy men, on the dusty, narrows streets of Pushkar.
An Aerial shot on the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
A young girl on the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
In a market on the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
Sharing the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
A Sadu, a Hindu holy man, on the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
On the streets of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. October 3rd 2012.
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