Pushkar & Ajmer

Situated at 11 km northwest of Ajmer, The 'Pushkar Lake' is considered to be holy by Hindus. Legend has it that the creation of the lake was the result of a lotus falling off from Lord Brahma's hand who was desperately seeking a place to carry out a religious ceremony and a fire sacrifice popularly known as a 'Yagna'. Water immediately gushed forth from the spot and in this way lake came into being. Apart from religious significance, pushkar being in the middle of hills is very picturesque. Fifty two bathing ghats have been constructed around the periphery of the Pushkar Lake. They say that water around each ghat is supposed to have special powers.

Calm & serene- Morning view of the Pushkar Lake

The entire street to the main deity temple (Brahma Temple) in Pushkar is ornamented with colourful and bright shops selling clothes, jewellery,shoes and everything that’s typical to Rajasthan & Gujarat.  One could see many shops (mainly cafe & other eating joints) that are a personification of ‘The cultural mix’ or ‘exchange’ that exists today at Pushkar. Yes! You do have a lot of foreigners coming and spending months here. Some are fascinated by the Hindu religious philosophy, Indian culture and some have come in search of ‘Nirvana’. Some are simply exploring Pushkar as part of their ‘travelling India’ experience.In the market itself, various juice counters, tattoo shops & cafe are laid out with small chairs and wooden benches for people to sit and exchange their views and experiences. 

This is my favourite :) you will find this father and daughter duo singing rajasthani folk songs daily in the evenings @ the sunset point

view of Ghats from one side of the lake

Pushkar  is surrounded by Aravali Hills from all corners and thus resides people who are originally from here and people who came here to spend some time and stayed here forever. These people learnt the culture, language and adopted themselves to the environment here. While walking in the market I saw many boards pointing towards cafes and small restaurants owned and run by these foreigners, who are no longer foreigner to this land. Such people have amalgamated their skills, cuisines, tastes and interests with Pushkar. 

One of the Ghats near the sunset point

My personal recommendation for a stay at Pushkar would be to find an accommodation from where you can view the lake. The hotel that we stayed at (Pushkar palace) had a perfect view of the lake as well as the sun-set point. We used to have our food at a restaurant at the sunset point only. (‘hotel Sunset and restaurant’)This restaurant is also my favourite personal recommendation at it is exactly at the sunset point.  Not to mention the tasty food , good service and the beautiful view of the lake. Another peculiar thing about this restaurant is that they have a colourful menu of almost every cuisine in the world! Mexican, Spanish, Chinese, Italian !! you name it and it’s there. Seriously, you do not get this much of an International choice in food in religious places in India.

People watching sunset at one of the ghats. We also sat there for sometime:)

Beautiful sunset @ Pushkar 

captured this one at the hotel:)

After a three day stay at Pushkar we headed back to Delhi, making a promise to myself to come back here again and explore and understand more on the cultural exchange and what is it about Pushkar that attaracts more foreigners here than any other place in Rajasthan. .

But all in all, visiting Ajmer Sharif, watching beautiful sunsets while sitting at ghats at Pushkar are memories enough to make this trip a memorable one. Not to forget my shopping – I bought lots of postcards( yes! I found a shop from where I bought plenty and I have a good collection now), pretty bangles and two pairs of rajasthani juttis.

Ajmer Sharif is the landmark of Ajmer city and is one of the holiest of Muslim shrines in the country. It also has a secular appeal and is revered by people of all sects. Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chisti, a Sufi saint from Persia made this place his abode.

Route that we followed: Delhi – Gurgaon- Manesar- Behror- Shahpura- Jaipur- Bagru- KishanGarh- Ajmer- Pushkar

My prized possession ;) I went crazy when I spotted  them in the  market!

A few more of my postcards:)

I bought these beautiful bangles from the colourful market

Another capture from my iPhone-I love its camera :) all these pictures have been taken from my i-phone  in this trip!Hence a beginning of the era of i-phoneography in my blog;)