PUSHKAR
In this blog, I am talking about the most colourful town of Rajasthan 'Pushkar' about 145 km from state capital Jaipur and 16 km from Ajmer, situated on a hilltop Pushkar or 'Tirthsal' one of the oldest existing towns in India and one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for Hindu devotees, according to Hindu theology the creator of the earth (include all living and nonliving beings) lord 'Brahma' himself lived here and this is the one and only temple of 'Brahma' in the whole world, but that's not the end of Pushkar it's the beginning. Pushkar have lot of things which surprised you it's one of the favorite tourist destinations of Rajasthan, not only the Hindu devotees but the tourist from all over the world comes in a huge number
People who visit Pushkar there is always one question in their mind.
why a huge number of tourist came to Pushkar even it's a small village?
why Pushkar is foreigners favorite tourist destination?
Pushkar is a very small town or you can say it's a village and its small area is a big factor for attracting tourists, yes that's true, Pushkar is a blend of whole Rajasthan and you can get everything from different parts of Rajasthan whether it's culture, heritage, history, tradition, shopping, food everything what you want without wandering anywhere the other important reason is people, getting tired of watching the same things like wherever you go in Rajasthan you can see the series of forts but Pushkar is a place where you will be completely spellbound.
Shopping and Food
As I said earlier you can get everything here and for shopping lovers, this place is shopping paradise especially those who interested in traditional and antique items, some of the famous items are -:Handmade papers
Antique jewelry, gems
Authentic arts
Handicrafts
Tradition print
Block print
Leather products
Food -: Here you will find the worldwide variation of the food, whether it's Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Mexican, continental everything what you want, there were lots of budget multi cuisine Restaurant in Pushkar.
Tourist attraction
Pushkar has a lot of things to watch some of them are -:
- The Pushkar lake - One of the most famous places in Pushkar, located at the center of the town, the lake has a fascinating story according to Hindu theology the lake is formed by the tears of lord Shiva which is believed to have shed after the death of his wife sati. the story goes that when sati died, Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds one at Pushkar in India and the other at 'Ketaksha' (Pakistan).
- Brahma temple - The most famous and the oldest temple of Pushkar, I have already mentioned above, the story of the temple.
- Varha temple - this temple of incarnation form of lord Vishnu (varha), it's said that, lord Vishnu came into the form of varha (a kind of animal) and kill an atrocious demon Hiranayaksha.
- 108 Mahadev mandir
- Atpateshwar Mahadev mandir
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| Pushkar Lake |
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| Brahma Temple |
Pushkar Fair
According to Hindu calendar, Pushkar fair commences on Navami (ninth day of the fortnightly phase of the moon) and ends in Purnima (full moon) the main festival lasts for 5 days. Pushkar fair is the world's largest camel fair, and it's not only a camel or cattle fair but it's a festival, where you can see the colors of Rajasthan, thousands of animals including camels, horses, cattle are brought from miles around to be traded. the immense crowd was gathered, about 2 to 3 lakh people every day visited during the fair time. Local people specially came here to take bath in the holy lake, according to the local people if anyone takes a bath in this holy lake during the festival period all their sins erased and they achieved salvation. but the main highlights of the fair you see at "Mela maidaan"(fair ground) where during the 5 days of fair many contests were held such as Matki Phodd (Pitcher damage) in which group of people try to damage a pitcher which is hang on a rope, langdi daud (one leg race), Camel race and Camel dress competition in which people decorated their camel with great care they wear jewellery of silver and beads, bells on their neck and bangles around their ankles and they perform dance on the beat of folk music. other contests were Bridal competition, mustache competition, in which some contestant have been known to have mustache 11 feet long, hot air balloon flight, folk dances, and many more contests held everyday most of them are specially organized for foreigners.
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| Turban making competition |
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| Bridal make-up |
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| Matki daud (Pitcher Race) |
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| Camel dance |
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| Camel Race |
Additional tips -
This is one of the most famous fairs in India and people came here from all over the world, so hotels and taxis were pre-booked months ago and during the peak time hotels and taxi owners charge double and triple which affects your pocket and may be possible you didn't get any hotel or taxi and you may face problems, so if you have any plans for the Pushkar during the fair, must pre-booked hotels and taxis.Shopping is quite costlier because the shopkeepers target the foreign customers and their prices are so high so before to buy anything must bargain, and check the prices in 2-3 other shops.
Read my other blogs -
Inside Jaipur- http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2016/11/inside-jaipur.html
Temples in Jaipur- http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2018/11/temples-in-jaipur.html
Excursions near Jaipur - http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2018/12/excursions-near-jaipur.html
Udaipur - http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2017/01/udaipur-diaries.html
Chittorgarh - http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2017/01/chittorgarh_14.html
Kumbhalgarh - http://myworldinmybagpack.blogspot.com/2017/01/kumbhalgarh.html
