Pushkar and Ajmer – 1/3/15

After leaving the delightful city of Jodhpur, we took a train to the Hindu pilgrimage city of Pushkar. The story goes that Lord Brahma was soaring through the heavens on his flying lotus flower when a petal fell off and drifted down to earth. When the petal touched the ground, it turned into a holy lake. The city of Pushkar is located on this lake, complete with its own mini Ghats (the steps that lead into the Ganges River – or in this case Pushkar Lake). Because Brahma’s lotus petal fell here, there is a Brahma temple in the city. Now, this might not seem like a big deal considering that Brahma is one of the three “main” Hindu gods and the creator of the universe, but there are actually very few Brahma temples in India (in fact, I heard that the temple in Pushkar is the only Brahma temple in the world, but I would need to do some fact checking before I could say anything for sure). 

I had assumed that Pushkar would have a Banarasi feel since it is also a sacred Hindu center, but I was so wrong. Pushkar reminded me most of the touristy “artisanal” market in Antigua, Guatemala. The narrow alleyways were lined with colorful shops that each sold the exact same thing: patterned pants, Rajasthani bangles, camel leather purses, wooden figurines, woven mats, Rajput daggers, etc. The difference between here and Antigua, however, is that in Antigua there aren’t camels in the streets that you can ride (for a couple hundred rupees, of course). Interestingly, there was a Shiva linga (a monument to Shiva) in the Brahma temple. Pushkar did feel sort of like Banaras in the sense that there were still tons of hippie westerners wandering around in their dreads and graphic tees.

The next morning Alex, the Bens, and Christy hiked a nearby mountain at sunrise to see a temple (everyone else opted to sleep in). After they got back we headed back to Ajmer (Pushkar doesn’t have a train station, so we technically arrived in Ajmer before taking a taxi to Pushkar the day before). Before coming to Ajmer, we had heard that really the only thing that was dekne layek (worth seeing) was a Sufi shrine there (Sufi being one of the two major sects of Islam). Little did we know that Jan 3 happens to be the Prophet Mohamed’s birthday and there was an absolutely enormous festival going on in the city. Part of the holiday is giving alms, but taken to a new level. People on the street were handing us everything from fruit, to crackers, and even samosas! Although it was a nice gesture, we were advised not to eat the food we were given because, as the old saying goes, “do you know where that’s been???”. Ben T was feeling courageous and did eat a samosa, but he sure paid the price later that day. In addition to food distribution, there were also tons of marching bands out and a whole parade of music and dance. We got to talk to some men from Afghanistan and it was cool to hear them talk about their country. They spent most of the time telling us that most people in Afghanistan are not bad and that we should visit and see for ourselves how nice of a country it can be (idk if I’m quite ready to take them up on that offer, however). In any event, being in a predominantly Muslim part of Ajmer for Id-Milad-un-Nabi was an unforgettable experience and so much fun, but it was a little unfortunate that we didn’t get to see the Sufi shrine.