Pushkar
Photographs of Pushkar in Rajasthan, India. Pushkar is a magical oasis, the antidote to all that is heavy and gloomy about India, a place of wide smiles, gorgeous landscapes, and irrepressible spirit. It’s a land of flower farms, oxcarts, ladies carrying pots on their heads, schoolkids with huge smiles walking alongside water buffalo, past wheat fields full of peacocks and monkeys. Pushkar itself is a tiny town of about 20,000 people, sometimes cynically dismissed as nothing but a tourist bazaar, for most people Pushkar is nothing more than the annual camel fair (Pushkar Mela). This is a woefully ignorant perspective though. Pushkar is an ecosystem, a collection of dozens of villages, carved out of the Thar desert and the ancient Aravali mountains, with deep traditions and a distinct, beautiful, and engaging culture. It’s one of the most important of Hindu holy places and pilgrimage sites, where Brahma dropped a flower from heaven to form Pushkar Lake. It is quintessentially Rajasthani, with a strong distinct culture of dress, dance, song, art, music, agriculture, and food.
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Sunrise over the Aravali Range and the Thar Desert from the Pachmantha Mataji temple, Majhewla Village, Rajasthan, India
A goat herder atop the highest point in the entire Pushkar region, in the Aravali mountains near Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Women sweep up and burn garbage on a dusty desert road after the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Air pollution is an epidemic health crisis across India. India has the worst air pollution in the world, worse even than China, with Delhi the #1 worst city in the world.
Dusk at the 7th century Ajaypal temple site (Shiva temple), near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Taken on the "Black Moon" or "Shiva Moon."
Silhouette of a boy tending his carnival ride at Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Candid photo, not staged.
Sunset reflecting in Pushkar Lake, with Savitri mountain and temple in the distance, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
An elderly woman with the skin condition vitiligo looks out from her home, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A baby langur monkey missing one of its hands plays at a temple on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
In an unusual scenario a juvenile red macaque monkey (probably orhpaned) is adopted by a troop of langur monkeys, Ajaypal, Rajasthan, India
An Indian Pariah street dog chases langur monkey in a large old fig tree at the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Mutter peas (Pisum sativum) in Kharekhari village, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Mutter is a major crop in the region, known for its use in the popular dish Aloo Mutter (potato and peas). People commonly snack on the sweet peas.
Steep staircase leading to the Pachmantha Mataji mountaintop temple, near Majhewla village, Rajasthan, India
Schoolboys react with great excitement to seeing a foreigner visiting Chachiyawas village, Rajasthan, India
Dog in a Santa hat missing one eye on Christmas day at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Boys herding goats make chai tea by filling a plastic water bottle with water from a creek, milk from their goat, and tea from their pocket, then boling it over a fire. Bedhnath temple area, Rajasthan, India.
Cows eat flaming garbage in the Pushkar municipal dumping ground (landfill), Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Cows grazing on a field of plastic bags at the Pushkar municipal dumping ground (landfill), Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Landfills like this are so free of metal glass (since it's all been picket out to be recycled) that you can walk barefoot.
Girls from a low income family in a remote part of the Pushkar desert, Kishanpura Goyla village, Rajasthan, India
A man and boy sit with three street dog puppies next to a fire on a cold winter morning, Chachiyawas village, Rajasthan, India
Characterful lady carrying a bowl on her head in Picholiya village, Rajasthan, India. Her teeth are stained from chewing tobacco, a habit among only lowest caste women in India.
Beautiful people from the farming village of Kharekhari, Rajasthan, India. These are all good friends of mine.
A foreign photographer is mobbed by enthuiastic children at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A woman from the Cheeta caste prepares Chapati bread from wheat grown only five minutes away, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
A baby langur monkey missing one of its hands plays at a temple on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A handsome family of Nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in a remote stretch of desert near Kishanpura Goyla, Rajasthan, India. Nilgai are the largest antelope in Asia and require sizeable areas of undisturbed habitat to flourish. These were in an area several kilometers from any farms or villages.
Light trail from a passing tractor before sunrise at the 7th century Ajaypal temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A baby nurses an adult water buffalo that went beserk in its owners truck and severed both of its horns, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India. The animal is too dangerous for anyone to attempt to help it in this state.
A man from the Cheeta caste prepares breakfast before sunrise on a freezng winter morning, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
A natural mound of quartz rock in the desert, not associated with mining operations, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
Beautiful native forest in the Aravali Range at the highest point in the entire Pushkar/Ajmer region, Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Albino girl plays with a toy doll I gave her as a gift, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
A woman from the Cheeta caste prepares Chapati bread from wheat grown only five minutes away, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
A girl washes her face in a trough while camels drink, at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Street dog missing one leg, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The dog was likely hit by a vehicle and had its leg amputated at a rescue center.
Stilts (sp.) (the bird species) are silhouetted alongside a floating oil lamp on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A family of ten albinos living near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. They're panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
Man in a "Playboy" shirt strikes a pose at Taragarh, Rajasthan, India. Playboy is a popular brand in India. I've seen hundreds of men and boys wearing playboy logos.
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