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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Laborer on a farm growing peas, wheat, and carrots walks home for the day, Nand village, Rajasthan, India
Night sky and rocky desert hills at Ajaypal, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Single exposure with the foreground illuminated by a flashlight.
Early morning sun on native trees high in the Aravali mountains near Majhewla village, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A puppy struggles to avoid traffic, Devnagar village, Rajasthan, India. Countless dogs are killed or maimed every day across India by vehicles.
Stilts (sp.) (the bird species) are silhouetted alongside a floating oil lamp on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A man collects plastic drinkin water bottles to be recycled in the Pushkar municipal dumping ground (landfill), Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Plastic bags don't get recycled, but most everything else is extracted after it's dumped.
(NOTE: Not staged, they were coming down the road just like this) - Epic image of a farming family riding on their tractor in Doomara village, 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.
Huge ancient fig tree with a 130 foot diameter crown in a farm field near Nand village, Rajasthan, India
A goat herder atop the highest point in the entire Pushkar region, in the Aravali mountains near Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Foggy morning on the awesome country road passing the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, 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.
A boy plays with a primitive toy wagon with a wonderfully simple and effective design, Baroon village, Rajasthan, India
Ladies in saris buy eggplants from a mobile (bicycle) vegetable seller while taking a lunchbreak from a goverment subsidized construction job, Kaklana village, Rajasthan, India
Wild Indian gray mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii) high in the Aravali mountains near Majhewla village, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Superman sandals, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Flip flops are a very common form of footwear in India.
Circular pattern in a desert sand dune created by a stalk of grass blowing in the wind, Chawandiya village, Rajasthan, India
I think this is the only photograph ever published of this beauiful view of remote Narwar village (from the local hilltop temple) and the Aravali Range, Rajasthan, India
Flowers, bells, and pots in a remote temple, near Nand village, Rajasthan, India. The baba in the back is blind.
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.
Pigeons congregate in an old fig tree snag at the Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, 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.
Winter morning frost on fabric in the Pushkar municipal dumping ground (landfill), Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Foreign tourists delightedly snap photos of a captive red macaque monkey performing at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Foggy morning in the rocky foothills of the Aravali Range above the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva temple, 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.
Stars behind an ancient fig tree at the 7th century Ajaypal temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Single exposure with the tree illuminated by a passing tractor at 3am.
Plastic chai tea cups burn in a fire to keep people warm on a cold winter morning in the desert, Majhewla village, Rajasthan, India. Such fires, numbering in the millions every day across India, contribute to the country's terrible air pollution.
A bowlful of puppies at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Aravali Range from the highest point in the entire Pushkar/Ajmer region, Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Puppy with a bad eye at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A paralyzed calf warms in the sun at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
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