Friday, 23 December 2011

Sifar se Safar tak...Pushkar (Part-2)




The Holy City : Pushkar
It was 10pm, and all the shops were closed, there were very few people we can see on the street and very soon they also disappeared. It was very scary feeling for both of us in this strange place, as we were very far from our hotel and also very hungry. Shivering due to cold, shaking legs, still managing to walk and desperately seeking for food. Luckily we find a small sweet shop opened, we ate Khova Mal-Puha there, a very famous sweet dish of Pushkar, along with hot milk. After that the shopkeeper dropped us to hotel on his bike. I still remember this experience as it is.

Yes, this is Pushkar…in morning, you will discover a unique atmosphere of divine and spiritualism which add peace to your soul, in noon you may get trapped in the middle of a temple passage where you can’t even move your legs to walk due to huge crowed, in evening you don’t want to leave the streets of market in which you will find ample of beautiful stuffs to buy for yourself and for your dear ones, and in night you just want hang in your room because there is nothing to do outside.

So, after exploring Ajmer, next day we decided to visit Pushkar. It’s just a half an hour journey from Ajmer. You can hire you own personal taxi, there is a very good economical bus service also available from main bus stand Ajmer and if you have your own vehicle then what to say…you are lucky as you will hardly get any seat in the bus to be seated and the taxi charge is very high.

Bharma Temple
Pushkar is half surrounded by hills and it is a very small, quiet and beautiful town with its own dignity of spirituality, just like Varanasi, Haridwar, Kedarnath and other holy cities. Pushkar is famous for Bharmha Temple, the only temple on the earth dedicated to Guru Bharmaji. It’s also famous for a unique “Pashu Mella” (Dairy Farming Animal Fair), which held once every year in the month of November, where people came to buy and sell their animals like - Camel, Cow, Buffalo, Horse, Goat and other such animals. And there is a very beautiful lake situated in the middle of Pushkar town, surrounded with several Temples and Ghats. Local people say that there are one thousand temples situated in the city. It’s hard to believe in this small town, but it’s a fact.

We reached in morning and checked in our Hotel. Our hotel was located outside the city. After taking our breakfast we headed towards Bharma Temple. The temple building is very old, around more than 100 years old. The campus of the temple is quite big but the main temple is small. From outside, it is blue in color and the dome is of red color. It was very great experience to our souls after visiting Bharmaji temple. Post this we went to see Pushkar Lake. Believe me; I have never seen such a beautiful lake in my life. The lake situated in Ajmer is also beautiful but every lake has its own unique features, so as Pushkar Lake. This lake is small and you can see every corner for the lake from any place you stand. There are several temples attached to the lake side and also there is a temple in the middle of the lake. We both decided to visit lake side in late evening and also in early morning to experience it more spiritually & quietly because at that time, there were several people doing holy rituals, worshiping and taking holy bath, so we thought it was not the right time to see it.

Pushkar market is full of fancy, antique, and many unique items you will never find anywhere else in India. There is something for everyone in this market, whether it is a Silk Kurta, a Show Piece item, a traditional look hand bag or outfit for ladies, a woolen pullover, Spiritual books, and especially items for Pooja, you will find everything in this market. Post exploring the market and some shopping we headed for our hotel. On the way we find a person holding a musical instrument called “Ravan Hatta”, it a one string instrument which was sounding like a symphony to our ears. He was also singing a folk song…Kesariya..balama, padharo mare desh re..(Welcome to my land) Wow, it just beautiful. Listing a folk song electronically (stereo or mp3) is altogether different experience listing live…It was just amazing. We stopped there to listen to him. I closed my eyes and I find myself in the middle of a desert. It was a great feeling and all our tiredness went away after listing to him.
Morning view of Pushkar Lake

Next morning, we both wakeup very early. We wanted to first visit the Bharma Temple and then the Lake. Our hotel boy suggested us to take a shortcut road from backside of the hotel. Since our hotel was outside the city there were no transportation options for us that early morning, only walking. But, it was nice to take a small walk with your good friend in between the green fields of a small village. Sun was not yet raised, it was behind the mountains. It took us 20 min. to reach the temple, the campus was almost empty and once again our soul felt very peaceful.

Later we went to see the lake side. The sun was now raised completely. Due to the sunlight reflection on lake, the water was shining like golden color. We both seated on the bank of the lake for an hour. We didn’t talk much with each other. Due to that silence atmosphere we clearly able to hear our heat beats, the sound of water waves, temple bells, birds hum. It was awesome feeling which I cannot express in words. Humble breeze touching our faces, beautiful aroma was spread in the ambiance on lake side. Every little thing was very beautiful and very spiritual. It was one of the best moments of our life.
The Golden Color of Lake in evening

Now I understood why every year several tourists visit this place and want to visit again and again. It’s very different from any other holy places in India. It’s not big city and not even much crowded. Pushkar is also a very good destination for photographers, so if you are fond of photography, do bring your camera with yourself, else you will surly miss it very badly as I did.




ABOUT PUSHKAR:
Pushkar is a holy town situated in Ajmer district in Rajasthan state. It is famous for its Bharama Temple, Lake, Ghats and Bazaar. The word 'Pushkar' means lotus flower, which is said to be the seat of Brahma. On kartik purnima (full moon), people use to visit this place to take holy bath in the Lake and also there is a very famous Cattle fair is organized at same time i.e. in the month of November every year.

GETTING TO PUSHKAR
BY TRAIN:  Regular trains are available from Jaipur & Delhi till Ajmer. There is no direct train to Pushkar.
BY BUS & TAXI: Frequent Buses are available from Ajmer main bus stand which take only 30 min. and very economy. Taxi is also a good option.
BY FLIGHT: There is no airport situated in Pushkar nor in Ajmer. Nearest Airport is located in Jaipur.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
Just like temples, you will find plenty of Hotels & Resorts in Pushkar like – Govt. owned two RTDC hotels, Pushkar plalce, Hotel Sunset, Green Park Resort, Aroma Hotel and many more.

MUST SEE:
Bharmha Temple, Rangji, Chamunda, Pap Mochini, Panchkund Shiva temples and Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Ghats and many more.

Savitri temple - It is located on top of a hill near the lake and is dedicated to the goddess savitri, wife of Hindu god Brahma. It is must see, just one hour climb but the view of the Lake & Pushkar is mesmerizing.

EAT: There are ample of good restaurants & dhabha’s in Pushkar with variety of good food available to burn your hunger like – Sunset point, Pushkar restaurant (near Bharmha temple), out of the blue etc.. Please don’t forget to taste the Mal-Puha…its really yummy. 

1 comment:

  1. Good I really like the abrupt start...u r learning fast...keep it up..looking forward for more posts..bye

    ReplyDelete