Teerthraj Pushkar – The Pilgrims Paradise: Pushkar Sarovar

So, after visiting that beautiful church and praying for few minutes before Jesus, we now had to catch a bus for Pushkar and after some inquiry we were informed that the RSRTC buses ply between Ajmer and Pushkar after every ten minutes from Ajmer bus stand. To reach bus stop we boarded in a city bus who took us to bust stop in ten minutes. Though I had already been to Pushkar around 13 years back, when I visited Ajmer to appear in the Railway Recruitment Board Ajmer’s exam for Junior Engineer after completion of my Engineering.

Aerial View of Pushkar & Pushkar Lake – Courtesy: Google

It was a hot day and we were feeling very uncomfortable due to this heat. As we got down from city bus at bus stop, a bus was ready to leave for Pushkar. We boarded in the bus and our tour from Ajmer to pushkar started, from this bus we saw the famous and huge lake Anasagar of Ajmer. Its indeed a beautiful and scenic lake. After around fifteen minutes run through the Ajmer city the main road leading to Pushkar started. Pushkar is at a distance of around 12 KM’s from Ajmer bus stand and usually it takes approx half an hour to reach there.

Ajmer RSRTC Bus Stop

In Ajmer city, On the way to Pushkar

The way from ajmer to pushkar is very scenic and picturesque, it is a road made by cutting the hills. From the window of bus we were enjoying the beautiful views of the way and simultaneously capturing the pictures. Beautiful curved and twisty road, lush green surroundings, hills and the monkeys romping on the road side hills and trees, in a nut shell this short journey was full of exaltation, excitement, zeal and enthusiasm. But this is the scene of outside the bus but inside the bus we were feeling very hot and were almost soaked with sweat, but our excitement to reach and see Pushkar was challenging that roasting heat.

The picturesque way…..

On the way to Pushkar

The Monkey’s playing on Rocks

Now on trees

Eventually after few minutes the buildings of pushkar visible to us. One thing I would like to cite here that Kavita and Sanskriti were much excited to be in Pushkar because of a special reason apart from spiritual and tourism, and the reason was to see the places and characters and scenes presented in a TV serial airing on Star Plus channel - Diya Aur Baati.This serial is made on the backgrounds of the Pushkar and the entire serial runs around a traditional Rajasthani family living in the city of Pushkar. Entire culture, costumes and language used in the serial presents the feel of Pushkar. This serial is a favorite of both Kavita and Sanskriti, so they had a hope that they would be able to see the shooting, locations and the characters of the serial. This serial is being telecasted even now on star plus and the location as shown in the serial in some Hanuman gali in Pushkar.

With full of zeal we entered in the holy town of Pushkar. As we got out of bus the roasting heat and penetrating sun rays welcomed us in Pushkar as it was the time of afternoon and we were in Rajasthan. At Pushkar bus stop we found a cycle rickshaw and we hired it for forty rupees. Now we were riding on a cycle rickshaw in Pushkar.

Another signboard

We were eagerly looking the surroundings of Pushkar, narrow alleys, old buildings, antique shops, monkeys and above all large number of foreigners   everything was unique. Since we had already booked our hotel in Pushkar so we were not worried about searching a hotel, we instructed our rickshawala to take us to Hotel Navaratan Palace.

After Reaching hotel we fulfilled some basic formailities of hotel and rushed towards our room as we were feeling bit tired and also wanted to get rid of the burning heat. Immediately after getting in the room we switched on the air cooler and crumbled on the bed. After few minutes rest I and Kavita were now worried about the health of Sanskriti because she was not recovered yet.

I enquired the hotel manager about any doctor nearby but he told me very depressingly that there is no any doctor nearby and to seek any medical treatment you’ll have to go to the government hospital which is about 4 kilometers from here.

Here one more thing I would like to mention that in Pushkar one has to be completely depend upon cycle rickshaws which are in a very limited quantity or your own foot because none of the other means of travel is allowed to operate in the pushkar town as per local administration. So I was bound to take sanskriti hospital on foot as after tem minutes wait I was not able to find any cycle rickshaw. It was really very hard even for me to walk on my foot four kilometers in an unknown place in hunt of a doctor.

Fortunately the doctor was in and she prescribed a very good treatment for Sanskriti. While returning  we got a rickshaw and reach hotel. Immediately I gave the dose of medicines to sanskriti. After half an hours rest she shown first sign of recovery and asked something to eat after a long span of 24 hours. I was very happy that she asked something to eat and I Immediately rushed towards the restaurant to take some dal and rice for her as per her wish. After having little amount of food she laid down on bed and went on sleep. Her fever was getting down and she started recovering rapidly.

Now we got some relief from Sanskriti and we were thinking to go to the holy pond of Pushkar (Pushkar Taal) because it is auspicious to visit Bramha temple only after taking bath in the holy pond. We asked Sanskriti whether she wants to come with us at Pushkar Taal but she denied accompanying us there, so soon we headed towards the Taal taking necessary things in our bag like towel, soap etc. Now it’s the time to give some necessary information about this holy place Pushkar and the Pushkar Taal.

PUSHKAR: Pushkar is a town in the Ajmer District in the state of Rajasthan. It is situated 12 km northwest of Ajmer and is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for devout Hindus. According to Hindu theology, the pond at the Katas Raj temple Near choa saidan shah in Chakwal District of Pakistan has a theological association with Lord Shiva; it was formed by the tears of Lord Shiva which he is believed to have shed after the death of his wife, Sati.

The story goes that when Sati died, Lord Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds — one at Pushkar in Ajmer in India and the other at Ketaksha in Pakistan, which literally means raining eyes, in Sanskrit. It is from this name that the word Katas is derived. It is often called“Tirth Raj” – the king of pilgrimage sites – and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists. Pushkar is one of the oldest existing cities of India. It lies on the Shore of Pushkar Lake. The date of its actual origin is not known, but legend associates Lord Bramha with its creation.

Pushkar in Sanskrit means blue lotus flower. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagya. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar. Pushkar word may be derived from word ‘Pushkarni’ means- lake. It may be derived from word Pushpa means flower and Kar means hand.

Pushkar Lake: The prime attraction of Pushkar is the Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place. It is located in the town of Pushkar amidst the aravali range of hills. The mountain range known as Nag Parbat (“snake mountain”).

Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of theHindus. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC. Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathingghats (a series of steps leading to the lake), where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around KartikPoornima (October–November) when the  Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu Temples are situated around the lake precincts.

Legend: There are various legends from Hindu epics Ramayana andMahabharata and thePauranik scriptures which mention the Pushar Lake and the town of Pushkar surrounding it. According to the Hindu scripturePadma Purana, Brahma saw the demon Vajranabha trying to kill his children and harassing people. He immediately slew the demon with his weapon, the lotus-flower. In this process, the lotus petals fell on the ground and thus created the lake. When Brahma came down to the earth, he named the place where the flower (“pushpa”) fell from Brahma’s hand (“kar”) as “Pushkar”. So this was a little description about Pushkar, Pushkar Lake and the legend associated to this lake.

Now coming back to my story: As we approached to the holy pond (Pushkar Taal) we were astonished to see the beauty of this miraculous lake and were stunned for a moment. It was really a fascinating sight. Everywhere around us there was an auspicious aura and our mind and souls went spiritual, spiritual and spiritual. Because of rainy season the water of pond was muddy and looked like tea, but it was deep. I strongly believe that because of its color and appearance the holiness of the pond does not gets affected a bit. So soon we were ready to take a holy deep in the Pushkar Taal.

A child in disguise of Lord Shiva on the way to Pushkar Taal

Steps leading to Pushkar Sarovar

The Pushkar  Taal Main Ghat

Another view of ghat and Pushkar Sarovar

The Pushkar Sarovar

The Pushkar Sarovar

Shivam is very much fond of bathing in River and sea so he started taking off his cloths and I was also excited to take a holy dip as soon as possible, so without wasting time we both put our first step in the pond, since it was hot that time so we felt this bath pleasant. Kavita took position to capture the photos. Meanwhile she spoken a panda to perform a pooja for us on the holy banks of Pushkar Taal.

The Pushkar Sarovar…….See the beautiful backgrounds

Sitting on the ghat

The father and son taking holy bath at Pushkar Taal

Amazing na?………….Yes he is none other than shivam

Another beautiful view

Wow………….

A sadhu baba on the Ghat

Monkey’s playing on ghat

A Sign board on the ghat

After we were over from bathing Kavita went to have a holy bath and after she finished, we all set together on a step of the ghat for pooja. After the pooja finished we returned back to our hotel. Now Sanskriti was feeling quite well so we were happy. Now our next destination was the main attraction of Pushkar the Bramha temple and sanskriti was also willing to come with us to Lord Bramha’s temple- The one and only in the World. But alas……………..You’ll have to wait till my next post for Bramha Temple and the other temples of Pushkar.