Rajasthan Part 3: Pushkar

Next stop, Pushkar.  This is considered one of the holiest Hindu cities.  Not on the same scale as Varanasi, but still sacred.  The lake was created by Lord Brahma, the creator, when he dropped a lotus flower down to Earth.  The petals broke apart, where they landed water magically filled the craters within the desert.  Now the lake is surrounded by 52 ghats, or steps into the water, each named for a Maharaja.  Bathing in the holy waters of this lake are supposed to wash impurities away and cleanse the soul.  

Our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the lake.  Our driver dropped us downtown, then gave us directions back to our hotel.  We spent the afternoon wandering the alleyways and reflecting upon the lake.

After leaving the main streets we were immediately bombarded by young men wanting to provide us with guide services.  They made every attempt to sell themselves as trustworthy folk.  They claimed we needed their help in order to maximize our experiences in this holy city.  Taking KP’s advice, we deflected the help of several guides and changed our course multiple times in order to shake off these pestering followers.  Sometimes I would pretend I didn’t speak English, giving them a confused look.  Other times I ignored them all together as if they didn’t exist.

Our two months in India would become a series of new experiences.  Pushkar was no less a powerful new experience.  All around us devoted Hindu’s were participating in religious rituals worshipping Lord Brahma.  Wary travelers easily got roped into such rituals, called pujas, soon discovering the real reason for the ceremony.

As we got closer to the waters edge music began to echo from various temples.  Priests had awnings set up around several of the ghats providing shade to visitors.  We respectfully removed our shoes, but rather then place them in a rack and pay money, I snuck them into our daypack.  Hoping I could avoid the crowd and just watch several iterations, we were quickly bombarded with a priest and temple boys inviting us to join them.  Reluctantly I gave in and followed with Gretchen stoically behind me.  We sat upon the stone steps where he began the puja.  I was handed a silver plate containing several colorful flower petals and powders.  The priest began chanting several incantations in repetition.  It seemed to be going well until he grabbed a nearby coconut, then asked me how much money I was planning to give.  Ugh.  I was prepared to be asked for a donation, but I was not prepared for the way he would scoff at my gift.  The Rough Guide specified 52 rupees was enough to give per person.  When I told him I would give 104 rupees he became very unhappy with me.  He told me that was not enough, then rattled off various members of an extended family, mentioning my donation would bring them all good fortunes and health.  I suddenly had a glimpse what Martin Luther must have felt like.

After almost a minute of debate about how much my donation would be, I bid no more than 200 rupees and placed them upon the coconut shell.  The priest only half heartedly completed the puja and handed me the plate.  Mixing water with the dry powders to create a paste which he used to place a third eye upon my forehead.  Then, tied a token around both our wrists.  The token or "pushkar passport" is a piece of red and yellow twine torn from a temple cloth and worn around the wrist.  This identifies you have participated in a puja, and priests will generally leave you alone for the remainder of your visit. We then got up, scattered the petals in the lake, washed our feet, said a prayer to God in our own language, and continued exploring the area.

This part of Rajasthan continues to see drought year after year, leaving the lake much lower then normal.

We found a nice cafe in the shade to beat the head and enjoy some food.  Another great meal for under $4.  

The cafe was briefly mentioned in the guidebook as being off the beaten path, and highly recommended.  The temperatures were still in the 90’s, but not quite as humid as Delhi.

Luckily our hotel had a pool!  We only spent one day and one night in Pushkar.  There were several temples we chose not to go into.  At this point in trip we were both a bit overwhelmed from visiting so many Hindu temples.  Later, we would again learn to appreciate the beauty in a few of them.  It just felt like that’s all our guide wanted to show us was temples.  Nearly every city had hundreds of them.  So when we had to opportunity to wander we chose just to take pictures from the outside.  I also got a little tired of constantly having to leave my shoes at the entrance, then pay some guy to watch them...