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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Sunset reflecting in Pushkar Lake, with Savitri mountain and temple in the distance, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Huge doors leading to the main chamber housing the idol of Lord Mahavira, Nareli Jain temple, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
Miners are dwarfed by the landscape as they pry rocks out of the Aravali mountains by hand using ropes and crowbars. This particular mine is regarded as illegal and unsanctioned. Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India.
Five rescued puppies at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Sunset reflecting in Pushkar Lake, with Savitri mountain and temple in the distance, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Sheep herders graze their animals in the desert near a massive ancient fig near Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
Foreign tourists cover their faces due to the air pollution from dust and smoke at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A farmer with his mutter (pea) crop, Nagaur village Rajasthan, India. Widely used in dishes like Mutter Paneer and Aloo Mutter.
An emaciated dog recovering at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) 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.
Young girl performing a contortion and highwire act at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A wonderful image that says a lot. In a tiny hilltop temple near Bhagwanpura village, Rajasthan, India, Hindu faithful have laid a single peapod (mutter) along rocks in a devotional arrangement. Mutter is an important crop grown directly outside the temple. Such integration of the simple objects of daily life into religious devotions is common in India.
A boy eats carrots and mutter (peas) handed out for free as part of the government food assistance program, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A woman carries a lantern during a marriage procession, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Low caste adults are paid just 10 cents per hour to do this work.
A baby langur monkey missing one of its hands plays at a temple on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A woman from the Cheeta caste prepares Chapati bread from wheat grown only five minutes away, 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.
Huge ancient fig tree with a 130 foot diameter crown in a farm field near Nand 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.
Albino brothers play with a toy car I gave them as a gift, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
A volunteer pets puppies at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Heavy winter morning fog at the Aloo Baba temple, Ajaypal, Rajasthan, India. Aloo (potato) Baba (holy man) is an old man living at the temple who survives on nothing but potatos, and lots of hashish
A favorite image - unaware of the camera, a group of sisters from a wheat farming family playfight using pieces of cardboard as swords, Doomara village, Rajasthan, India. These are amazingly happy, friendly people.
A woman carries a lantern during a marriage procession, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Low caste adults are paid just 10 cents per hour to do this work.
Sunrise over the Aravali Range and the Thar Desert from the Pachmantha Mataji temple, Majhewla Village, Rajasthan, India
An auto rickshaw carries lanterns and workers coming from a marriage procession in Pushkar, near Kanas village, Rajasthan, India
Beautiful scene as pigeons fly near a female peacock on a wheat farm in late light, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
Grandmother and granddaughter show a striking similarity in facial features while displaying fine Pushakr Fashion, Taragarh, Rajasthan, India
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