One of Rajasthan’s biggest draws is Pushkar, a Hindu pilgrimage town. According to legend, Brahma dropped a lotus to Earth and Pushkar was born.
Pushkar is home to a Brahma temple and each year thousands upon thousands of Hindus come to bathe away their sins in Pushkar lake. The peak of this pilgrimage is during the full moon in Kartika, the 8th lunar month of the Hindu calendar and the time that we were fortunate to visit. A series of pools ring the lake, including one that is home to some of Ghandi’s ashes, drawing bathers from dawn to dusk.
Back from the Ghats and Temples, Pushkar is a maze of narrow streets lined with tourist shops, travel agencies, internet cafes, restaurants and guest houses. At it’s peak over the full-moon weekend, the streets were jam-packed with everything from wide-eyed young girls dressed in their brightest saris to world-weary old men sleeping in alcoves. It is a rare location that holds attraction to both western tourists and pilgrims and somehow manages to accommodate both.
