And so to Pushkar, which turned out to provide quite a suprise. Pushkar is a small town on the edge of the Thar desert, and is a place of profound religious importance to Hindus. The place is thronged with worshippers chanting down the narrow streets, and amongst the tourist shops selling clothing, ornaments etc there are revered holy men or sadhus with their attendant followers. There are so many temples in the town, and there is a palpable sense of religiosity about the place. The most important of these temples is the one dedicated to Brahma, which is virtually the only one dedicated to the Creator in the whole country.
To my huge surprise I discovered before visiting the Brahma temple that the priests who run it are from the Prashar clan! Its not the most common name in India, so that was a major surprise, and I later discovered that the travel agent who booked my passage out of the town and the guy on the hotel reception also carried the same name. A town full of Prashars! How odd?!
Adjacent to the temple is Pushkar lake, which has 52 ghats, or a series of steps, that lead to the holy lake. So worshippers attend the lake, spend time in quiet contemplation and receive blessings from the priests as well as make offerings. Its an incredibly spiritual place, hard to describe really, but very relaxing. Such a contrast: the peaceful setting of the ghats and the tumult of the narrow streets just a stone's throw away.
 |
| Ghats at Pushkar Lake |
 |
| Pushkar streets |
 |
| Pushkar Lake |
 |
| Ghats at Pushkar Lake |
No comments:
Post a Comment