Pushkar: Land of Sarovar and Sands

Those eyes!!

Pushkar is considered to be one of the holiest cities of India for the existence of Brahma temple that is believed to be built in 14th century AD. Also the lake (sarovar) in Pushkar is believed to have been created when Lord Brahma dropped a lotus flower on earth which turned into a lake. Pushkar is also famous for the annual Camel Fair that is held here in November. Of late, Pushkar has become quite popular with foreign tourists for handicrafts, fusion music, cheap rents and the intoxicating atmosphere.

Fire seems to be his food

The town of Pushkar is situated 14 kms northwest of Ajmer. The road condition from New Delhi to Ajmer is quite good though there is still a possibility of traffic jams due to construction work going on the highway. However, the road from Ajmer to Pushkar is full of potholes. Thankfully its not a long stretch. Overall, Pushkar is at a distance of about 390 kms from Delhi and the distance can be covered in about 7 hours.

Brilliant performance

We went to Pushkar on a office trip and departed from Gurgaon at midnight in Volvo bus. As our driver demanded a nap midway, so we reached Pushkar quite late at around 10 in the morning. We stayed at Ananta Resort located about 4 kms before Pushkar. The resort is quite nicely maintained and seemed impressive at first impression. The rooms are luxurious and are mostly in the form of villas with a private porch/balcony for each room. However, it was their service that really disappointed us especially in the restaurant. Also, the resort staff failed to provide us with TV connection over our two day stay in any of the 30 rooms that our group had occupied.

In action

In the evening, we went to Pushkar town for sightseeing. Our first visit was to the famous Brahma temple. However, I was a bit disappointed with the temple as I couldn't see any reason for the temple to be famous. It was just like all our regular temples and I personally didn't feel the positive energy that comes to us at some of our famous temples. A short walk from the temple lies the sarovar or Pushkar lake. Years back, the lake was surrounded by almost 500 temples and 50 palaces. However, the mughal king, Aurangzeb demolished most of these. But many of them were rebuilt just like they originally were and today you can see them doting the banks of the lake to give it an enchanting feel. The lake area seemed quite peaceful due to the absence of huge crowd at this time of the year and spending a quite hour sitting besides it felt refreshing.

Qawwali Session

Next day, a paintball competition was organised in the resort lawns. I had never played paintball before and enjoyed it totally. However, the blood clots left from the bullets that hit me kept reminding me the game for a couple of days.

This evening, we left for sand dunes to enjoy a typical Rajasthani evening. From the point where bus dropped us, there was a camel cart to carry us to the event site. Here, we enjoyed rajasthani folk music followed by a Qawwali session. Apart from the music, the acts of fire by some local performers were amazing. After our return to the resort, we left for our return trip to Delhi early next morning.

Breathes of fire

Places of Interest:
In Pushkar:
1. Brahma Temple
2. Pushkar Lake
3. Pushkar Camel Fair (Annual event in November)

Around Pushkar:
1. Ajmer Sharif Dargah (14 kms from Pushkar)