Pushkar Tourism

Pushkar Is A Town In The Ajmer District In The Indian State Of Rajasthan. It Is Situated 14 Km (8.7 Mi) Northwest Of Ajmer At An Average Elevation Of 510 M (1,670 Ft) And Is One Of The Five Sacred Dhams (Pilgrimage Site) For Devout Hindus. According To Hindu Mythology, The Pond At The Katas Raj Temple Near Choa Saidan Shah In Chakwal District Of Pakistan Has A Mythical 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, Satti. The Story Goes That When Satti Died, Lord Shiva Cried So Much And For So Long, That His Tears Created Two Holy Ponds -- One At Pushkara In Ajmer In India And The Other At Ketaksha, 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 Brahma With Its Creation. Pushkar Has Many Temples. Most Of The Temples Are Not Very Old Because Many Temples Were Destroyed During Muslim Conquests In The Area.[Citation Needed] Subsequently, The Destroyed Temples Were Rebuilt. The Most Famous Among All Is The Brahma Temple Built During The 14th Century CE. Very Few Temples To Lord Brahma Exist Anywhere In The World. Other Temples Of Brahma Include Bithoor In Uttar Pradesh, India, Village Asotra Near Balotra City Of Barmer District In Rajasthan, Uttamar Kovil (One Of The Divya Desams) Near Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, Mother Temple Of Besakih In Bali, Indonesia, And Prambanan In Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Pushkar Lake Has 52 Ghats Where Pilgrims Descend To The Lake To Bathe In The Sacred Waters.

Sightseeing Places in Pushkar
Brahma Temple - A pilgrimage to the holy town of Pushkar with us is an unforgettable experience. The place abounds with many temples, which are must-visits for any devout Hindu. Apart from the Brahma Temple, other shrines of importance are Savitri Temple, Rangji Temple, Warah Temple and Apteshwar Temple. Thanks to the extreme sacredness of the place, it is advisable for those who travel to Pushkar, to respect the town’s holy status and not to eat meat or consume alcohol. In fact it is an earnest desire for every pious Hindu to make a Pushkar pilgrimage.

Pushkar Lake - Anything even remotely related to Pushkar Lake has a halo of sacredness and divinity. Legend has it that a dip in its waters cleanses all the sins and is the surest way to achieve salvation from the cycles of life. Circled by some five hundred odd temples, the lake has 52 ghats, which connect the temples to the water. These ghats were constructed by the rulers of the different erstwhile princely states of Rajasthan and some of them are aptly named after the states.

Pushkar Fair - 11km northwest of Ajmer is located the small town of Pushkar, one of the holiest sites in India. Every year on the day of auspicious Kartik Purnima, the full-moon phase of October/November, Pushkar brings in thousands of pilgrims from all over the country to take a holy dip in the waters of the lake, which are believed to cleanse the soul of all sins. Alongside this annual religious festival, a camel fair, hailed as the largest camel market in the world, is held where people buy and sell livestock when more than 200,000 traders, dealers and tourists throng here to the west of the lake. The magical color of the camel fair, added by the mesmerizing desert landscape and legendary religious atmosphere, has made Pushkar one of Rajasthan tourist destinations in Rajasthan.

SAVITRI TEMPLE- The Savitri temple on the other side of Pushkar is in honour of the wife who sat by Brahma's side in Savitri's absence during Brahma's ceremonial sacrifice. Legend says that Gayatri was an untouchable and to purify her she was put into the mouth of a cow and taken out from the other end. To reach the Gayatri Hindu temple the best route to take is from behind the bus stand and walk up a hill. Both the Savitri and Gayatri temples are closed - so to say - during lunch hours and the best time to go is either before noon or in the evening.

OLD RANGJI TEMPLE PUSHKAR- Two Raghunath temples exist in Pushkar; one is the old one and the other is relatively new. The Old Raghunath temple was built in 1823 and houses images of Venugopal, Narasimha (Vishnu's fourth incarnation) and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. But there's a bit of a problem for foreign tourists visiting these two temples because of one little sign which says "Foreigners not allowed." These are probably the only binary temples in India where such segregation exists.

NEW RANGJI TEMPLE PUSHKAR- The gracious temple is very conspicuous for its south Indian style of architecture. It has a high rising Gopuram which is typical of south Indian. Pushkar has more than 400 temples. The other important temples are Banji ka Mandir, Atmateshwar Mahadeo temple, Varah temple and Man Mandir.

GURUDWARA PUSHKAR- Gurdwara Singh Sabha - Pushkar or Pushkar Raj, a temple town around a natural lake, is 13 kilometres from Ajmer, to which it is connected by road. Pushkar was visited by Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh. The shrine commemorating the former Guru's visit was formerly called Guru Nanak Dharmasala but is now known as Gurdwara Singh Sabha and functions as a branch of Sri Guru Singh Sabha Ajmer. It is housed in a double-storey flat-roofed building near the bus stand.