Holy Destinations of India

Pushkar

Pushkar is 13km. from Ajmer. A winding road among the hills leads to Pushkar. The way is full of natural scenes. There are the rows of beautiful flower plants on either side of the road and the travellers get refreshed while travelling this place. One can see the buses, tongas, taxis and pedestrians on the road coming to and going from Pushkar. The road is always busy. The pedestrians enjoy their walk. They can have rest under the shady trees too. When a tourist or a pilgrim reaches Pushkar, he finds himself among the nature.

The town of Pushkar is far from the noisy environment of the city. When he reaches the Ghats, particularly the Ghats near the Sarovar Tourist Bungalow, he gets refreshed and loses his tiredness of his journey. Pushkar is situated at the foot of the hills which add to its beauty. Five rivers, Suprabha, Kanaka, Prachi Nanda, and Saraswati flow here and make the place more beautiful. The climate here is balanced. It is not as cold as the Himalays and not as hot Madras is. It has neither the dryness of Sindh nor the wetness of Bengal.

History of Pushkar

All the important and sacred places have been named after some important persons. Pushkar was also named like that. Once Brahma was worried over the matter of having a place in his name on the earth as the other gods have so he also had a desire to have a place in his name in the mortal world(earth). Having such thought in mind and saying 'Mangal Ho'   He threw a lotus flower upon the earth. The flower fell at three places and the holy water sprang out from all these three places. Then Brahma said that these three places would be known as Pushkar.

ACCOMMODATION

During the special occasion of the Pushkar Fair, accommodation is arranged in special tented accommodation in a tourist village, which is self-sufficient and specially designed to complement the natural beauty of the site. It has a coffee shop and dining hall that can cater to 1,500 guests at a time.The village is arranged on blocks of tents, each with its own identity, named after the famous dances of Rajasthan. The village also has huts with attached western style toilets and running water. It can sometimes be difficult to find accommodation in Pushkar, especially if you arrive late in the day. Most hotels are nothing fancy, but they are generally clean and freshly white-washed. You should ask to see a few rooms before deciding, as many have a cell-like atmosphere owing to the tiny or non-existent windows. The mozzies can be a real nuisance here, so come armed with insect repellent. Be warned that most hotels tariffs skyrocket during the Camel fair, when demand for rooms is exceptionally high.

Pushkar Fair (Information)

In the month of Kartik each year, a staggering number of camels amble their way across the golden sands of Rajasthan to congregate at Pushkar for the week-long fair devoted to them. Coming in from all directions, their masters astride them, they flick the sand at every step with casuals' ease. The horses that march to this site find the sand-trot an exacting exercise. Numerous cows and sheep all come to the animal fair. Completing the scene are thousands of men, women and children, come with their beasts, suddenly inhabiting the barren plain. Providing a backdrop, the camels in the distance camouflaged, scarcely discernable. The contrast to the blank desert is the riot of Colours - the large gaudy turbans of the native males arriving here to trade their animals or to set up the stalls to cater to the booming captive market, and the loud hues of the pleated ghagaras (ankle-length skirts) of the belles bangled by the armful, bejewelled from head to toe- adding charm and zest to the massive affair. At Mela time, Pushkar is Rajasthan under one roof, a complete exhibition of its culture.

The Ttrading:
Over the first five days of the fair, camels, horses, cows, goats, and sheep are sold and purchased. There may be protracted negotiations, or sometimes, a quick transaction. Hard bargains are struck, the vendor extolling the long list of virtues of his camel to the prospective buyer.

Fashionable Women:
Womenfolk seem to have little interest in the business of animals. They are more attracted to the glittering wares in the stalls under awnings. The large variety of intricate silver ornaments - hairpins and chains, nose rings and neckbands, cummerbunds, anklets, toe rings and the ivory bangles worn from wrist to shoulder - would send any woman on a buying spree. The garments stalls, in no way less colourful, sell high fashion upper garments of patchwork and tie 'n' die. Tattoo stalls give many women beauty marks that last a lifetime. Whoever said that the unsophisticated are not fashionable!

And there are lots n lots of Camels too:
In Rajasthan even the camels are fashion-conscious, and that too to a high degree, for they are soon to be part of a beauty parade! The proud owner of a newly acquired camel promptly goes to the stalls which the women bypassed. At these stalls all the crafts of Rajasthan have been pressed into the service of the camel community. Handmade saddles to fit every hump; long strings of cowries, bes and beads; colourful, woven saddle-straps, and embroidered back-covers to boot. After a shearing and a scrub, the camel is costumed and even perfumed! Surely the Marwari man loves his camel-and his wife!

Fun and frolic:
As the tempo of business goes down, the men folk turn to merriment, for the day of the camel sports is at hand. Camel races are the first event. Usually a lumbering beast of burden, the camel all decorated in finery, imagines itself to be an ostrich, and rushes through the race like one. Then comes the event analogous to musical chairs. Here, as the music stops, the camel is supposed to manage to stick its long arching neck between two poles, each camel owner guiding its entrant by means of a silken cord attached to its nose ring. Vying for the first pace in the beauty contest, splendidly bedecked camels are bought to the ring and paraded to catch the critical eye of keen judges. The gait of the camel, the choice of its equipment and ornament, its capacity to interpret and carry out commands and the variety of pranks it is capable of performing are the criteria of selection. The most thrilling camel event is 'laadoo oonth'. see how much weight the camel can can carry, man after man clamber onto the ridge-like back of the camel, each clutching at the other to retain the collectively precarious position. It is not an uncommon sight to see the human cargo come crashing down as the camel tries to get to its feet! It is not known whether this was the intention of the camel.

The culmination :
Kartik Purnima, the day of ritual oblation , is also the closing day of the world's most colourful festivals. Bathing begins at dawn. There is quite a scramble for getting a place on the bathing ghats. The famed waters of the Pushkar Lake wash away the sins of a lifetime. The mystical water is also believed to cure skin diseases, making Pushkar the Lourdes of the east. After bathing, the devotees line up in long colourful queues to take their turn to worship the Creator, Brahma. Romance touches Pushkar on the full moon night, as tiny leaf boats, each carrying flowers and an oil lamp, are set afloat on the placid lake. Twinkling like thousands of stars, their flickering flames reflected in the water, they wink back at the innumerable stars on the desert sky. The next day dawns for the exodus. Long caravans hump their way along, taking many camels to their new homes. Little does a camel know which master it will serve after the coming Pushkar Mela.