Magnetic and Enigmatic Pushkar

Well i was bored by rotting under the warm Delhi sun so decided to pack my stuff and travel to Pushkar to take a break from my day to day life. i packed my rucksack and took an early morning one way train ticket to Ajmer and then a rickety bus took me from ajmer to Pushkar.

I had been Pushkar before but with my dad when i was a little lad when i was unable to take my own decision i had foggy memories of Pushkar but this time was different this time i was the lone ranger traveling solo. choosing Pushkar as my destination had reasons behind it 

• It is not that far from Delhi and is a nice and a calm place to restore peace for weekend getaway
• The cattle fair- oh yes it was month of november and i always wanted to vitnes indias biggest cattle fair.

I am a kind of traveler who travels by third class but experiences the first class so let me give you an overview of pushkar and places of interest.

Pushkar is a travellers delight have tons of hotels guesthouse with equal amount of rooftop restaurants. So as soon as i stepped out of the bus i checked into an hotel namely THE MILKMAN took a shower and begin with my expedition.

THE CATTLE FAIR

The main reason why i was in Pushkar , every year Kartik Purnima (full moon) in month of november is marked by the India's greatest cattle and camel fair. The huge cattle and camel fair is pushkars biggest draw over 2 lakh visitors and pilgrims and hordes of cattle and camel with their semi nomadic tribal drivers crowd into the town . Breeders and camel traders buy and sell.

There are horse and camel races on all days and betting is heavy , there is tug of war between the rajasthanis and the foreigners and is usually won by the former there are also sideshows with jugglers acrobats magicians and folk dancers . At nightfall there is music and dancing outside the tents around friendly fires 

Pilgrims bathe in the holy lake on the night of the full moon being the most auspicious time and launch boats of marigold and rose petals in the moonlight.

From my personal experience cattle fair is a must watch and the best time to witness it is few days before the actual fair start when the camels are walking in with their drivers for the fair to start.

Also as the fair starts the prices of every thing from hotels to rate card the restaurants shoot up by 10 times as it is the peak season. hotels and doms are jam packed trains and buses are full , i myself had to buy a ticket in tatkal to reach back to delhi.

Other places of interest

THE PUSHKAR LAKE

Often almost magically beautiful in the really early morning or late evening light is one of the sacred lakes. Like Goa or Dharamshala pushkar lake is one of those travellers centres where people go for little R&R from the hardships of life on the Indian Road.

One can sit for all day long on the number of ghats that surround the lake and enjoy the calmness of the place and let the cool breeze relax you. at the time of sunset many artist perform at the ghats of the holy lake one can observe musical perfomances by local and foreigners dance show magic show puppet show etc

THE BRAHMA TEMPLE

The only Brahma temple in the country , at the farther end of the lake is believed to have sprung from a lotus flower dropped by lord brahma . it is a particularly holy shrine since it is believed to mark the spot where lord Brahma was incarnated i can not comment on the temple as i dint had the patience to stand in the long queues of pilgrims.

PUSHKAR has many temples and is one of the most holy places in the country . i visited many temples but one that i had a hard time reaching was SAVITRI TEMPLE , it took me more than a hour to climb the hill top where this temple is situated . it was long long and extremely tiring trek but the hard work done do not go in vein when you turn around and enjoy the spectacular view from the hill top.

( P.S. while treking to savatri temple carry lots of water and beware of the monkeys and only try the trek if you are brave hearted , even though i traveled to Pushkar in peak season i was the solitary climber who was aiming for savitri temple)