One of India's busiest pilgrimage sites, Pushkar is home to no less than 500 temples. The most prominent among them is the one dedicated to Brahma, said to be 2,000 years old.
Located on the edge of the Thar Desert in close proximity to Ajmer, which is used by the visitors as a jumping-off point to the pilgrim town, Pushkar is home to the world’s only temple dedicated to Brahma, the creator God of the Trinity.
According to legend, the sacred lake at its centre came into being when Brahma dropped the petals of a lotus flower (pushpa) from his hand (kar).
During the Hindu month of Kartik ( October/November), Pushkar, one of the oldest living places in India, is at its exuberant best when Pushkar Camel Fair is held annually to celebrate the Kartik Purnima (night of the full moon), one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar. On this very day Brahma is said to have created the Pushkar Lake with its 52 ghats.
This unmissable Rajasthan's famous camel fair is a crucible of traders, tourists, local musicians, mystics and saffron-robed and ash smeared Sadhus (holy men) and pilgrims as well as villagers in their colourful traditional attire with, of course, their thousands of livestock including horses, camels, cows, bulls, sheep and goats in richly decorated saddles.
Gayatri temple, Savitri temple and Vishnu temple are other famous shrines of Pushkar. The small sleepy desert town of Pushkar can be explored entirely on foot.
The picturesque town of Pushkar is 13 km away from Ajmer which is also a pilgrim centre of top order for being home to the tomb of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti known as the Dargah Sharif which attracts thousands of pilgrims.