The man's skin glowsn in the sunset. His hair blows, his muffler flutters and he shiversin the quick chilly breeze. But there is no breeze. The surface of the lake is placid and dust on the lake's ghats unruffled. His own private breeze has been created by some 300 pigions that have swooped around him of their own accord. For, he has just made one of the more beautiful  gestures of a devotee visiting pushkar - he has bought a five rupee packet of grain and scattered it around him with generosity. At this moment possible to take in the wintry watercolours of this lake, the hills, the sun and the pigeons, and be grateful for their creations. And as mythology attests, Pushkar is a fitting place for this gratitude.

   Legends and Mythology

lord Brahma, it is said, did not rest after creating the world and its inhabitants. he set out to perform a yagna for peace, but a celestial yagna such as this needed a special location. The padma purana says that

Brahma went to Lord Vishnu with thie problem. Vishnu dropped a lotus on earthi, and due to its impact, the waters of the Pushkar (pushpa means flower, kar hand) Lake sprang forth. The Piishkar Mahatmaya, however, says Brahma himself threw the lotus. At any rate, the sacred spot was chosen and the yagna performed. This lake is called the 'guru' of all tirths — that is, one gets the merit of visiting all places of pil-grimage by taking a dip here.

It's also believed that as the yagna rituals had to be performed by husband and wife together, Savitri, Brahma's wife, was asked to be present. According to the Pushkar Mahat­maya, she was late in arriving, but the priests at the Brahma Temple say that Narada — Brahma's  son  and  Hinduism's original mischief-maker — deliberately misinformed Savitri about the time of the yagna. In her absence, reluctant to let the auspicious hour pass, Brahma married Gayatri, a local girl whom Indra found. A hurt and enraged Savitri then cursed her husband that he would not be worshipped at any other place on earth. Consequently, Pushkar hosts the only Brahma Temple in India.

Interestingly, the Pushkar Mahatmaya attributes many other phenomena in Hindu mythology to Savitri's curse as well. For instance, she also cursed Vishnu, who was present at Brahma's second marriage and sanctioned it, such that Vishnu had to take birth as Rama and go through the suffering this incarnation entailed. She cursed the Brahmins present that they would always stay poor. She cursed Indra that he would not win any battle and would be known as lustful. Savitri then vowed to stay at a place where she would not even hear Brahma's name. Thus, her abode and temple is atop the Ratnagiri Hill, a steep climb away from the Brahma Temple. And it is Gayatri who sits with Brahma in his temple chamber.

   Orientation

The geographic, religious and emotional centre of tiny Pushkar is the lake (com­monly called sarovar) surrounded by 52 ghats, concentrated more on the eastern and northern sides. Immediately next to the ghats, hugging the buildings, runs the main bazaar, spreading from Jaipur Ghat in the south-east and curving around the ghats through the east, north and part of the west till the Brahma Temple. A walk from the Jaipur Ghat to the Brahma Temple can be done in a leisurely 20 mins if you don't stop to eat or buy anything, which is difficult. The town is bounded by the Nag Pahar and other hills on almost three sides and spreads out a bit only towards the north, where some sand dunes lie. Of the three main ghats, the Varaha Ghat and Gau Ghat ,are to the north of the lake and the bazaar lane takes a sharp turn south to the Brahma Ghat. The Savitri Temple is on Ratnagiri Hill, roughly behind the Brahma Temple, and it's a steep climb. Walking is the best way to see Pushkar, and everything can be accessed on foot. Only the Brahma Temple can be accessed by a wide road.

   Things to see and do:

If in a hurry, Pushkar's main attractions -the Pushkar Lake and Brahma Temple-and other important temples can be seen in a day. But something about the environment the lake and the colours of the bazaar make one want to linger over two or three days.

    Sarovar And Ghat:

The Pushkar Lake is the cynosure — in the town, on the religio-mythic map, and in the visitor's itinerary. Lined by white ghat build-ings, encrusted with pearly grey pigeons and with white ducks and geese, filled with mysterious dark green waters, with the smoky hills receding at a distance, it pro-vides a singular monochromatic aesthetic experience. Only the devotees in their quest for purification and the Brahmins in search or a living provide splashes of colour here, Even after your holy dip is over, you would want to be with the lake, ruminating on the changing colours of life, or just of the day.

A note of caution, however. As someone who has spent many enjoyable moments chatting with pandas in much of North India, this writer has to reluctantly say that the Pushkar Lake hosts some of the most intrusive, almost aggressive, money-chasing pandas ever. They follow devotees with  insessant sales talk of how they (i) want no money at all and (ii) will be happy with even a rupee if that is what you give "from the heart". But try giving them a rupee!

However, as the same pandas again will remind you, get your puja done here with The correct procedure because in the Brahma Temple, the priests do not help perform rituals. The Brahma Ghat, Varaha Ghat and Gau Ghat are the most sacred ghats for ritual purposes. It is said that the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and indira Gandhi were immersed at Gau Ghat.
However, if you want to perform a more formal ritual such as pitr tarpon, shraadh (rites performed for one's ances­tors) or a prayashchit tapa (penance) or immersion of ashes, you should go to the office of the Pushkar Purohit Sangha Trust (8 am-7 pm) at the Brahma Ghat.

Tip: Strictly no photography on the ghats. Take your shoes off on the ghats, some way before the water's edge

   Brahma Temple

The temple is a little away from the lake, a 5-min walk from the Brahma Ghat. The complex is made of marble, except for the older sanctum structure, which is built of stone, but this is hard to see under the paint. With its four-pillared portico, man-dap with domed ceilings, tall shikhara over the sanctum, four-handed figures used as 'brackets' on top of the pillars, the temple tries to replicate older traditions of Raja-sthani temple building. The shikhara and domes are painted in bright orange and the pillared halls are a bright blue.

The marble testifies to the faith of people from far and wide; memorial slabs have been donated from adjacent Ajmer, nearby Jaipur, far away Indore and across-the-border Nepal. This is embellished with silver coins encrusted in the marble. The four-faced Lord Brahma presides in the sanctum with a shy-looking Gayatri to his left. A silver turtle faces the sanctum, outside it. The temple also hosts other small shrines. Don't miss the beautiful black-stone Surya in the Pashupatinath temple.

Location 200m west of the Brahma Ghat Timings 6 am-1.30 pm and 3-10 pm Related info Mangalaarti is at about 6 am, when the temple opens. The evening aarti takes place about 30 mins after sunset. Shayan (retiring) aarti at 9 or 9.30 pm.

   Varaha Temple

Originally dating to 1123-1150, made by a king called Arano Raja, this temple saw suc-cessive demolition and repair. Rebuilt in Akbar's time by Rana Pratap's brother, it was demolished by Aurangzeb and again rebuilt by Jai Singh II. However, the importance of this temple is attributed to the belief that the Varaha here originated from Brahma's mouth, and that it marks the exact spot where the yagna was performed.

Reachable in two minutes from   the Varaha Ghat, it is a brick red structure, with an imposing entrance, standing on a raised plinth worth some 30 steps. The courtyard is spacious and the crumbling walls almost fortress like. Only one chhatri still retains the fading maroons, mustards and blues of Jai Singh's time. The temple is run on rather informal lines; it does not seem to get as many visitors as the others and the interior is mostly the priest's family home. Rice, cooked or raw, is the preferred offering to the white marble Varaha idol here.

Location 200m east of the lake Timings Opens at 5 am, closes from 1.30-4 pm, closes for the day at 8 pm

   Old Rangji Temple

The Sri Rangnath Venugopal Temple is an interesting amalgam of South India and Rajasthan. It is the first temple of the South Indian Ramanuja Vaishnava sect in Rajasthan, made in 1844. There are lovely fading frescoes on a lofty entrance door, gopurams, and Rajasthani chhatris atop walls. In the core shrine, there are three chambers of Krishna, Rangnathji and Ramanujacharya. If you make it at 8 am or 8 pm, you can partake of the prasad, which is khichdi and tamarind rice, respectively.

Location 150m east of Vaiaha Ghat Timings 6.45 am-noon, 4-9 pm Related info Foreigners allowed only in outer courtyard

   Apteshwar Temple

A Shiva temple with lingas in many chambers, notably in an underground shrine. No traces of its centuries-old exis­tence are evident today in the cramped lane near Varaha Ghat where the temple lies.

Location 100m east of Varaha Ghat Timings 6 am-1.30 pm, 4-8.30 pm (approx)

   Savitri Temple

Savitri played such an interesting role in the Pushkar story but her temple is a small, whitewashed affair with not much of note. Possibly it suffers from neglect because of the daunting, steep 4-km climb devotees have to make up the Ratnagiri Hill, starting from behind Brahma Temple, to reach it. If physically fit, this temple is worth a visit for the lovely views of Pushkar that it provides. Also, married women are said to benefit from praying here; it's believed that they stay eternally suhagan, blessed with the long life of their husbands.

Timings Informally run, 6.30 am to about 8 pm

   While in Pushkar:

Give yourself the gift of an hour or two ;at the Kishangarh Ghat (between hotels Sarovar and Pushkar Palace) at sunset time, preferably everyday! This is the only ghat at Pushkar with hardly a priest in sight and foreign tourists feeling at home. Unlike ,at other ghats, it's possible to sit here a long time, and feel at one with the lake. The sun sets with its own slow and sensuous intoxi-cation behind the Ratnagiri Hill, imprinting its various selves on the lake for over an hour, mutating moment to orange-pink-golden moment. Many performers from the famous Bhopa balladeers tribe of Rajasthan dot the wide, relatively clean ghat with their mellifluous Ravanhatta instruments and their haunting desert voices. The Sunset Cafe here provides chairs and a wide-ranging menu, and a couple of generous banyan trees give shade. What else could one need?

An interesting excursion from Pushkar can be made to the sand dunes on its outskirts, where the famous mela is held. The Sunset Cafe, Pushkar Palace and many other hotels here can arrange for a camel safari for you. This involves a camel-pulled cart with a mattress and bolsters to lean back

on and feel like royalty. The package may involve just a for an houror two or could be spread out with dinner by a bonefire and even local dance performances. The dunes are atmospheric and rather romantic at dusk.

The other must-do in Pushkar.s to stroll through its long and colourful bazaar street, cum-spiritual sounds, energetic with the buying and selling and haggling of tourists, bursting with the smells and sights of a narrow bazaar gali, occasionally revealing a lovely old haveli or doorway, and ever so often giving glimpses of the lake through some narrow opening that leads to the ghats. Window-shopping and tourist-gazing herf are always fun.

   Shopping

The pushkar bazaar, open all seven days, is a Mecca of cheap and gaily shiny skirts, tops, jhoolas and such like all catering. The color and cloth may not last and the cut and size are kind of all embracing, but its fun to buy these silky synthetic clothes and they make charming souvenirs or gifts.

   Pushkar Mela:

That singular carnival we know as the Pushkar Mela can actually best be under­stood as a conglomeration of two or even three fairs. There's the religious fair, spanning the last five days of the Kartik month from Ekadashi (11th day of the waxing phase of the moon) to Purnima (full moon day), in November. The cattle fair of international fame starts taking shape about a week before Ekadashi. Once any animal arrives at the Pushkar Fair, there is a traditional taboo on its leaving before Ekadashi, starting when the cattle fair wanes as the moon grows; and the rising full moon of Purnima — even as the sun sets on the other side of the sand dunes — signals the closure of the cattle fair.

 In the interstices exists a rural trade and enter­tainment fair. It's a week-long, sometimes charming, often garish extravaganza, finishing on the night of the full moon.

Legends and mythology:
When Lord Brahma made Pushkar the 'guru' of all tilths, the gods pleaded for some correction in this lop-sided situation. Brahma agreed to send the Pushkar tirth into the astral sphere, and to let it be present on earth only for five days. These, the last five days of the Kartik month, are the most auspicious days to visit Pushkar.

Orientation:
The cattle fair, held in the grounds and dunes to the north-west of the town, teems with camels and horses, and involves several 'events' organised by the admin­istration — races, games and fireworks. The nearby exhibition ground is the site for shops, giant wheels, a circus and eating stalls. The enactment of the religious business remains centred in Pushkar proper, that is, the ghats and the temples.

Two days before Purnima, the town, except for the outermost road, is closed to all vehicles; you park about half a kilometer before the town. From the afternoon before Purnima, the Bazaar Road is made one-way for pedestrians. During the mela, hotel and taxi prices increase phenomenally.

Things to see and do

For the devotee, it is essential to take a dip in the sarovar, and to visit the Brahmin Temple. The offerings and their prices do not change during the fair.

At the ghats
On Kartik Purnima, people start to take the holy dip right after the preceding mid-night. The rush will surprise you unless you have been part of a Kumbh. The crowd often takes a life of its own, leaving you little choice in selecting your path. Do not plan to do too much. At the lake people get divided between the various ghats, but everybody has to visit the Brahma Temple As you approach the temple, the crowd can be crushing, especially till about noon Given the rush, the temple is opened an hour or more earlier than usual.

Fair play
After the Brahma Temple, the crowd will steer you north and then west towards the exhibition ground. This lane is lined with makeshift shops and the air filled with the sounds of the mela. As you come out of the town, the blaring music from the circus hits you, as does the visual of young boys dancing in drag. The place is teeming with dhabas offering spicy bazaar food.

Past this village fair, you climb the sands of the modest dunes, and you are in the midst of the cattle fair. Horses just behind the circus, camels further ahead and cows beyond them. There are the mendicant musicians — men and boys playing the Ravanhatta, woman and girls doing a dance. Most of them, across the gender divide, sing; many in voices that one could travel miles to listen to. The Camels are undisputedly the stars of the show. There are camels of all sorts — old and young, female and male, very shabby-looking and enormously bedecked. If you desire a closer interaction, you have the choice between riding on camel back or in a camel cart. This is a very basic wooden cart padded with a mattress and bolster and can accommodate five people; the charges are Rs 350-500 per hour. A ride on the camel back is recommended only to those who are healthy in body and spirit. It's one of the most unsettling modes of transport.