Pushkar and the Pink City
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2011
1
12
45
Trip End
Sep 24, 2012
Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Monday, November 28, 2011
Pushkar immediately felt different to the rest of Rajasthan. As the bus drew closer, there was no fort or walled city in sight and the flat desert landscape of the west was replaced by hills. The town itself is a magnet for Hindu pilgrims as it curls around a holy lake, believed to have appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower. We were rewarded with a great view of the lake by hiking up to the hilltop Saraswati temple, one of four hundred temples in the town.
Perhaps due to its religious significance, holy cows are numerous in Pushkar and somehow seemed bigger and more stubborn than others we had come across in India. Scooters had to constantly play "dodge the cow" and the only thing they moved for were wedding parties! As it was wedding season in India, every night a brass band and drummers would lead a lively procession through the streets.
The old walled city in Jaipur is known as the “Pink City” and is filled with bazaars. As our time was limited, we just visited Hawa Mahal, a pink sandstone palace built by a maharajah to allow ladies of the royal household to view the city life below. Outside the palace, we saw what appeared to be an anti-smoking protest led by painted elephants and a brass band.
