Pushkar: On Ghats, Stories and More
A water body. 52 ghats. 500 temples. Yet none of these will fascinate you as much as the story that binds them all.
Pushkar is a city of cinematic scenery, ancient heritage and most importantly, mythological marvel. Centered around the Pushkar lake, this site is sure to overwhelm the tourist at first glance. You can almost feel the stories unfold around you, tumble down the stairwell and spill into the water, joining the rest.
Starting from the lake that so powerfully envelops the city around itself, its story is of Brahma filling it up and instructing Vishwamitra, a powerful sage to build the city around it. The temples were thus built to celebrate the greatness of the lord of creation himself. However, strangely — there is an aura of pride surrounding this worship. The locals will tell you about this worship of Brahma, expecting shock from you. And the secret to this does not lie in the worship but rather the lack of it elsewhere.
While there are many strange tales surrounding the worship of Brahma or the lack thereof — an interesting one is simply that of a flower.
The trinity of Sanathana Dharma — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva often wondered who was the most superior of them all. On one such instance, Shiva challenged Vishnu and Brahma to find the beginning or end of his body, saying whoever finds it would be declared the most superior.
Vishnu took the form of a boar and Brahma that of a swan. Vishnu dug deep down as far as he could while Brahma rose upwards. As they went further and further, it became increasingly clear to both of them that this was a futile attempt. Now, Vishnu decided to give up but Brahma, the creator after all, decided to spin a tale.
He found a screwpine flower, known as ketaki that sat atop Shiva’s head and coaxed the flower into supporting him in front of Shiva and Vishnu.
Triumphantly, he returned with the flower, claiming he found it at the top of Shiva’s head and that the flower would certify these claims. Shiva, on the other hand, knew these claims to be false and was immediately enraged.
In a famous fit of fury, Shiva cursed the lying Brahma to never be worshipped and banned ketaki from ever being used in his own worship.
Fast forward, Vajra Nabha, a demon was causing tyranny in all of Pushkar and ended up killing Brahma’s sons. As the gods do, Brahma put an end to it by stabbing him with a lotus stalk. As shrines began to develop in place of the petals that had fallen from this lotus, Brahma’s one of many wives, Gayatri proclaimed that she refuses to be worshipped if her husband does not have a shrine of his own.
Thus, it came to be that Pushkar became the only place that Brahma can be enshrined and worshiped in all of India.
Whether you love the stories that surround this place, the cattle fair or simply, the architectural beauty that it offers, Pushkar is a tourist godsend that you cannot miss!
