Post #207 21 March 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our visit to Pushkar, Rajasthan State, 27 February 2020.

The reason for going to Pushkar was to see the Jagatpita Brahma Mandir
temple. Hinduism has three main gods, and thousands of minor gods.  The three main gods are: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer.

For some reason there are very few temples dedicated to Brahma, and this one at Pushkar is the most prominent. In contrast there are thousands of temples dedicated to either Vishnu and/or Shiva.

The Brahma Temple dates back to the 14th century. It is made of marble and stone slabs. It has a distinct red pinnacle (called the shikhara) and a hamsa bird motif. The Temple sanctum contains images of a 4-headed Brahma, and his consort Gayatri (the goddess of milk).

This Temple attracts many Hindu pilgrims from all over India.

Photography was prohibited, so I got the pictures of the Temple off the internet.

There are long stairs up to the Brahma Temple.

The main part of the Temple, containing the sanctum

The sanctum contains a 4-headed stature of Lord Brahma.

The Temple is on a hillside overlooking holy Pushkar Lake. The town now surrounds the Lake. Because of pollution the Govt no longer allows ashes from cremations to be thrown into the Lake.

Diwan explaining the significance of Pushkar Lake to us. Many pilgrims bath in the Lake as it is regarded as holy.

In Hinduism cows are regarded as holy animals (provider of milk = life).  There were many cows roaming the streets of Pushkar.

There was a busy street or alley leading up to the Temple, lined by shops and stalls.

Another stall in the market leading up to the Temple.

A cow wondering along the street in Pushkar.

Another cow.

And yet another cow.

We came across this Hindu family feeding cows with fresh grass - a good / holy deed.

The family gave Elaine a handful of grass so that she could feed one of the cows and be blessed.

Darryl and I got talking to this young man who was riding a Royal Enfield motor bike.  They were originally British but the factory is now in India.  He said that he has a farm near Jaipur where he breeds thoroughbred Arab horses. He recently completed a 5,000km ride to the far north of India and back.  He is planning to trade it in for a Harley Davidson bike, as teh Royal Enfield is becoming "too common".

...

The following morning we set off for Jodhpur, the subject of my next post.

We stayed at the Dera Masuda Resort Hotel about 10km from Pushkar, in the countryside.  The rooms were OK, but the food was ordinary.  It is a pity we didn't stay in the center of Pushkar, as it looked like an interesting town.  Apparently quite a few Italian and Israeli tourists come to Pushkar - we saw a number of Israeli restaurants and bars as we drove around.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday, 21 March 2020