With a civilisation of more than 5000 years, India has a legacy of temples, monuments, palaces and sculptural masterpieces of inimitable aesthtic grandeur. During this historic process, a bewildering variety of races, religions, cult, languages and customs was produced. India's amazing diversity is also shown in her religions and religious places.
One of the famous religious places is Pushkar in Rajasthan where a bath in the lake and worship at the temple of Brahma is said to give one salvation. Pushkarji is situated in an enchanting valley of the Arravali hills, 11 kilometers north-west of Ajmer, where the temple is dedicated to Lord Brahma.
"Pushkaradhipati Tirthani Gangadhayasaritasthata" which means that in pilgrim places Pushkar occupies the highest place as sacred Ganga occupies the place among rivers. Significance of Pushkar has been mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, Buddha and Jain mythology.
Mythological Significance
The Pushkar lake is believed to have had a miraculous origin and Brahma performed a yajna on its banks. Legend has it that a demon called Vajra Nabha, living in Pushkar, had killed the children of Brahma and in revenge Brahma killed him with a lotus stalk. As he did so, petals from the lotus flower fell at three places in Pushkar where three lakes arose, Jyeshtha the main one, Madhyama the middle one and Kanishtha the small one. Lord Brahma was cursed by Lord Shiva not to be worshipped, but he is worshipped at this place because his wife Gayatri refused to have a shrine dedicated to her, unless Brahma also had his shrine there. Though there is no cult of Brahma, he is invoked in all the major and minor sacred ceremonies. According to Vedas, he originated directly from the Supreme Being. His attributes are his four heads, each one holding sway over a quarter of the Universe and the four Vedas are supposed to have emanated from his heads. He is, therefore, known as the god of wisdom.
Worship at Pushkar
Pushkar lake is famous for its sanctity and holy water. A holy dip from three to six a.m. on the day of Kartik Purnima (Full moon) ,some time in November,is considered most auspicious. Delicate clay lamps on leafy dishes, are lighted and allowed to float over the sacred lake.To commemorate the Great Yagna, a five day fair is organised when lakhs of people congregate at Pushkar, take a holy dip on all the five days in the lake and worship at Brahma temple. An outstanding feature of this fair is that people from all religious faiths attend this fair.
There are 400 temples in Pushkar and the most important amongst them are dedicated to Lord Brahma, Shiva, Badri Narayan, Rangjee, Gayatri, Savitri and Varaha. The lake, elliptical in shape, is encircled by 52 ghats built over the years by several kings and nobles. The important ghats are Varaha Ghat, Brahma Ghat and Gau Ghat. It also has seats of Vallabhacharya and Nimbarkacharya community. There are three Pushkars - Jyeshtha, Madhyama and Kanishtha. The last one is popularly known as 'Boodha Pushkar'. Performing oblations at the three Pushkars on foot is known as "Panch-kosi-Parikrama" as 16 Kms. distance is covered while performing it.
Cattle Fair
With lakhs of devotees congregating at Pushkar every year, cattle traders started selling cattle to the highest bidder. Later, the Rajasthan State Department of Animal Husbandary took the initiative to start a Cattle Fair in a well-organised way. Besides sale of cattle, various other government and non-government organisations participate in the exhibition organised at the Mela ground. Handicraft and rural artisan products from Punjab, Haryana, U.P., M.P. and all over Rajasthan are brought for sale. Cultural programmes , Kavi-sammelans and an unusual spectacle of camels racing and jumping can also be seen.
The events worth witnessing are dancing horses, dancing camels and laddu camel event, where the winning camel carries the maximum human load. In the evening a cultural bonanza spectacular variety of programmes with famous folk songs and folk dances of Rajasthan are organised for mass entertainment.
Mela ground on the final day provides a rare occasion where tying the turban in Mewari, Mewati, Dhudhani, Marwari, Jaisalmeri and Bikaneri styles in multicolours can be seen.
An International Tourist Spot
Initially people thronged to Pushkar to have a holy dip in the lake and worship Lord Brahma. Later the fair took prominence as the biggest cattle cum religious fair of Northern India.
Currently thousands of foreigners in join the festivities of the fair on all the five days and especially on the finale of Kartik Purnima day when various games of cattles, tug of war of men and women in between foreigners and rural farmers of Rajasthan and variety of entertainment programmes are organised. Tourism department has taken over most of the activities of Pushkar fair and the fair is now a major attraction of foreign tourists. A separate tourist village with Swiss cottages and shamiyanas is picketed for foreign and local tourists.
The gradual impact of western culture and life style is evident on old Indian religious culture of Pushkar inhabitants. Local Pandas can be seen conversing with foreigners in broken English. Though it has gradually become an international tourist spot yet Indian spritualism, philosophy, culture and rural folk life still continue to dominate this major fair.
One of the famous religious places is Pushkar in Rajasthan where a bath in the lake and worship at the temple of Brahma is said to give one salvation. Pushkarji is situated in an enchanting valley of the Arravali hills, 11 kilometers north-west of Ajmer, where the temple is dedicated to Lord Brahma.
"Pushkaradhipati Tirthani Gangadhayasaritasthata" which means that in pilgrim places Pushkar occupies the highest place as sacred Ganga occupies the place among rivers. Significance of Pushkar has been mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, Buddha and Jain mythology.
Mythological Significance
The Pushkar lake is believed to have had a miraculous origin and Brahma performed a yajna on its banks. Legend has it that a demon called Vajra Nabha, living in Pushkar, had killed the children of Brahma and in revenge Brahma killed him with a lotus stalk. As he did so, petals from the lotus flower fell at three places in Pushkar where three lakes arose, Jyeshtha the main one, Madhyama the middle one and Kanishtha the small one. Lord Brahma was cursed by Lord Shiva not to be worshipped, but he is worshipped at this place because his wife Gayatri refused to have a shrine dedicated to her, unless Brahma also had his shrine there. Though there is no cult of Brahma, he is invoked in all the major and minor sacred ceremonies. According to Vedas, he originated directly from the Supreme Being. His attributes are his four heads, each one holding sway over a quarter of the Universe and the four Vedas are supposed to have emanated from his heads. He is, therefore, known as the god of wisdom.
Worship at Pushkar
Pushkar lake is famous for its sanctity and holy water. A holy dip from three to six a.m. on the day of Kartik Purnima (Full moon) ,some time in November,is considered most auspicious. Delicate clay lamps on leafy dishes, are lighted and allowed to float over the sacred lake.To commemorate the Great Yagna, a five day fair is organised when lakhs of people congregate at Pushkar, take a holy dip on all the five days in the lake and worship at Brahma temple. An outstanding feature of this fair is that people from all religious faiths attend this fair.
There are 400 temples in Pushkar and the most important amongst them are dedicated to Lord Brahma, Shiva, Badri Narayan, Rangjee, Gayatri, Savitri and Varaha. The lake, elliptical in shape, is encircled by 52 ghats built over the years by several kings and nobles. The important ghats are Varaha Ghat, Brahma Ghat and Gau Ghat. It also has seats of Vallabhacharya and Nimbarkacharya community. There are three Pushkars - Jyeshtha, Madhyama and Kanishtha. The last one is popularly known as 'Boodha Pushkar'. Performing oblations at the three Pushkars on foot is known as "Panch-kosi-Parikrama" as 16 Kms. distance is covered while performing it.
Cattle Fair
With lakhs of devotees congregating at Pushkar every year, cattle traders started selling cattle to the highest bidder. Later, the Rajasthan State Department of Animal Husbandary took the initiative to start a Cattle Fair in a well-organised way. Besides sale of cattle, various other government and non-government organisations participate in the exhibition organised at the Mela ground. Handicraft and rural artisan products from Punjab, Haryana, U.P., M.P. and all over Rajasthan are brought for sale. Cultural programmes , Kavi-sammelans and an unusual spectacle of camels racing and jumping can also be seen.
The events worth witnessing are dancing horses, dancing camels and laddu camel event, where the winning camel carries the maximum human load. In the evening a cultural bonanza spectacular variety of programmes with famous folk songs and folk dances of Rajasthan are organised for mass entertainment.
Mela ground on the final day provides a rare occasion where tying the turban in Mewari, Mewati, Dhudhani, Marwari, Jaisalmeri and Bikaneri styles in multicolours can be seen.
An International Tourist Spot
Initially people thronged to Pushkar to have a holy dip in the lake and worship Lord Brahma. Later the fair took prominence as the biggest cattle cum religious fair of Northern India.
Currently thousands of foreigners in join the festivities of the fair on all the five days and especially on the finale of Kartik Purnima day when various games of cattles, tug of war of men and women in between foreigners and rural farmers of Rajasthan and variety of entertainment programmes are organised. Tourism department has taken over most of the activities of Pushkar fair and the fair is now a major attraction of foreign tourists. A separate tourist village with Swiss cottages and shamiyanas is picketed for foreign and local tourists.
The gradual impact of western culture and life style is evident on old Indian religious culture of Pushkar inhabitants. Local Pandas can be seen conversing with foreigners in broken English. Though it has gradually become an international tourist spot yet Indian spritualism, philosophy, culture and rural folk life still continue to dominate this major fair.
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