Pushkar has a magnetism all of its own – it’s quite unlike anywhere else in Rajasthan.  A belt of whitewashed Hindu temples enfold the shores of Pushkar Lake, on the fringes of the Thar Desert.

It’s a prominent Hindu pilgrimage town and devout Hindus should visit at least once in their lifetime. The town curls around a holy lake, said to have appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower.

We were recommended that we join pilgrims for a pre-dawn puja prayer ritual on the ghats (the sacred steps leading to the water), then climb to the hilltop shrines overlooking the town for views across Nag Pahar mountain (but I’m slightly embarrassed to share that we lacked the motivation to do this).  We have been feeling quite exhausted, I think it is partly being overstimulated, lots of sights and smells which are unfamiliar and the level of harassment is like nowhere else I have visited.  Our enthusiasm for visiting places gets sucked away rapidly (I’m frustrated with myself for feeling this way).

Pushkar also has one of the world’s few Brahma temples. With 52 bathing ghats and 400 temples, the town often hums with puja (prayers) generating an episodic soundtrack of chanting, drums and gongs, and devotional songs.

We were surprised that the city was ‘meat-free’ and we would not find any restaurant / market selling meat or alcohol.

Despite the commercialism and banana pancakes, the town remains enchantingly small and authentically mystic. We did have to giggle when some local kids confessed to having tried eating cow, they were cheeky and reminded me of how children confess to doing something naughty because it’s ‘cool’ to break the rules. It’s hard to know if they were telling the truth or trying to provoke a reaction, it was fairly comical to us as its something we do in the western world in everyday life.

Rules of Respect in Pushkar
– The entire town is considered to be sacred, so the rules that generally apply to place of worship in India, apply to the whole town.
– Smoking in public is prohibited by law.
– Consumption of liquor, meat and eggs is not allowed in the city. Visitors are advised to not carry any liquor and meat while travelling to Pushkar.
– No public displays of affection)- It is advised that men wear full-length pants and a T-shirt and women wear full-length clothes. Do not wear off-shoulder tops or shorts while roaming within the city. Women should avoid wearing Western-style casual clothes such as a mini-skirt, shorts, tanktop, camisole, or tight-fitting T-shirts.
– Take off your shoes at the stairs before going near the lake.
– Do not take photographs of bathers in the lake.
– Be polite, but do not be pressured into making any offering at the ghats. It is not mandatory.

We are leaving Pushkar today to Udaipur – It will take around 5-6 hours to cover the distance, and apparently there are more than 400 temples in the region.

• Distance between Udaipur to Pushkar :- 277 km
• Places to visit from Pushkar to Udaipur:-  Pushkar Lake, Varaha Temple, Brahma’s Temple, Mahadev Temple, Merta City, Naga Pahar, ‎Lake Pichola, ‎Lake Palace, Saheliyon Ki Bari and more. (We didn’t visit all of these but they are recommended stops on this route.)