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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A girl plays with a toy camel, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. A favorite photo, this was completely unstaged, she even chose to stop playing and chose how she wanted to hold herself. This is typical of my India photos.
A langur monkey sits on a rocky mountain summit near a rock mine, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
Stump of a desert tree cut for some local use, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Such logging is almost completey unregulated.
A langur monkey with baby jumps across a rock near the Ajaypal Shiva Temple, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Huge rock slabs and ancient temples in the spectacular landscape around Rajgarh village, Rajasthan, India
Picture of Sherawali Mata (Tiger Goddess Mother) on a temple wall, Budha Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Sherawali is a very popular diety around Pushkar.
See if you can figure out what's going on here... Two lines in the sand from a paralyzed dog dragging its legs at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Boys are paid 6 cents per hour to carry these lights in marriage processions, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
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.
Seed pods on a tree in the Aravali foothills near the Panch Kund temple complex, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Ladies ride crowded on a truck after working at a government subsidized construcition project for the day, Picholiya village, Rajasthan, India
Long exposure astro photo with the camera moved during exposure, Ajaypal, Rajasthan, India. No post-processing, all single exposure in camera.
Metal drinking water cups and clay pot form a still life in a window sill, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
22 foot tall statue of Lord Mahavira in the main chamber of the Nareli Jain temple, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The room is amazing, utterly silent except for a mantra echoing quietly on a loop, no people tending to the room, perfectly clean.
A family of ten albinos living near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. They're panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
Ladies in mostly yellow saris mark a day (I can't remember the name of it) where they all gather and cry loudly to mourn deceased relatives, 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.
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.
Pujari lights a fire at the 7th century Ajaypal temple site (Shiva temple), near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Taken on the "Black Moon" or "Shiva Moon."
Mother and baby from the Cheeta cast, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India. The Cheeta are part Hindu, part Muslim.
Glass Coke bottle at a restaurant, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Such bottles are washed and re-filled in India.
Huge ancient fig tree with a 130 foot diameter crown in a farm field near Nand village, Rajasthan, India
See if you can figure out what's going on here... Two lines in the sand from a paralyzed dog dragging its legs at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, 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
Rocks on a beautiful outside temple in an area where rock mining is part of the local economy and culture, Banwal vIllage, Rajasthan, India
Three albino children put cardboard on a fire to stay warm. They're shielding their eyes due to the sunlight, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
Remote Pachmantha Mataji mountaintop temple near the village of Majhewla, seen from Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Fertilizer runoff from nearby flower farms creates thick white foam in lakes near Maseena village, Rajasthan, India
Goat herder in the Aravali Range at the highest point in the Pushkar/Ajmer region, Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Gorgeous flower farms near Maseena village, Rajasthan, India, home to some of the happiest people I've ever met
A volunteer bottle feeds a tiny puppy at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near 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.
Gorgeous flower farms near Maseena village, Rajasthan, India, home to some of the happiest people I've ever met
Ladies in mostly yellow saris mark a day (I can't remember the name of it) where they all gather and cry loudly to mourn deceased relatives, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Circular pattern in a desert sand dune created by a stalk of grass blowing in the wind, Chawandiya village, Rajasthan, India
Children warm by a fire of small sticks on a cold winter morning as they wait for the school bus, Nedaliya, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
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