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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Hot air balloons are seen over the heads of a group of men at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
A metal water vessel sits in desert sand next to a campfire at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, India.
Girls in brightly colored costumes dance during the opening of the 2013 Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
Photographers take pictures of dancing girls in the stadium at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, India.
A father and son look at his mobile phone at a campsite at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
Sunrise over the lake and ghats of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Pushkar is an important Hindu pilgrimage site.
A wok at the Pushkar Camel Fair, with illuminated carnival rides in the distance, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
A father and son look at his mobile phone at a campsite at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
Two camels "kiss" at the Pushkar Camel Mela, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. They maintained this enthusiastic embrace for 20 minutes.
Tents on the Pushkar Camel Mela grounds at dusk, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Directly from the camera with no post-processing.
A baby langur monkey missing one of its hands plays at a temple on Pushkar lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Girl from a low income family in a remote part of the Pushkar desert, Kishanpura Goyla village, Rajasthan, India
Long exposure astro photo with the camera moved during exposure, Ajaypal, Rajasthan, India. No post-processing, all single exposure in camera.
A street dog killed by a tractor, Devnagar village, Rajasthan, India. Countless dogs are killed or maimed every day across India by vehicles.
Boys carry lights during a wedding procession, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The boys are paid 10 rupees for three hours work. That's six cents US per hour. Such predatory employment practices are common in India.
Sheep herders cauterize a wounded sheep with hot rocks from a fire, Makdol Mata temple (aka Jai Mata Di), Rajasthan, India
Street dog puppy with a broken leg in Khori village, Rajasthan, India. I took the dog to a hospital where it made a recovery.
An Indian Pariah street dog underneath a large old fig tree at the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A girl herds goats in the Aravali Range at the highest point in the Pushkar/Ajmer region, Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India, Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Albino boy plays with a toy car I gave him as a gift, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
Feral piglets huddle on a cold winter morning in Ganahera, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Ownerless pigs are a common site in the streets of Pushkar.
A farmer with his mutter (pea) crop, Nagaur village Rajasthan, India. Widely used in dishes like Mutter Paneer and Aloo Mutter.
Street dog puppy with a broken leg in Khori village, Rajasthan, India. I took the dog to a hospital where it made a recovery.
Foreign tourists delightedly snap photos of a captive red macaque monkey performing at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Happy brother sit on a sea of peanuts at their father's food cart at the Pushkar camel fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Fantastic assortment of rough-hewn spices for sale at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, 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
Sheep herders cauterize a wounded sheep with hot rocks from a fire, Makdol Mata temple (aka Jai Mata Di), Rajasthan, India
A motorcycle passes a rock mine near Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India. The mine employs many villagers.
Langur monkeys eat discarded flower garlands at the Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Wild langur monkey mothers and babies in desert woodlands, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Goat herder in the Aravali Range at the highest point in the Pushkar/Ajmer region, Leela Seori, 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.
Sunrise over the Aravali Range and the Thar Desert from the Pachmantha Mataji temple, Majhewla Village, Rajasthan, India
Girl from a low income family in a remote part of the Pushkar desert, Kishanpura Goyla village, Rajasthan, India
Sunrise over the Aravali Range and the Thar Desert from the Pachmantha Mataji temple, Majhewla Village, Rajasthan, India
An emaciated street dog is cared for at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center in Pushkar, India (tolfa.org.uk)
A woman harvests marigold flowers at a small farm near the Hindu holy city of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A boy places with a toy motorcycle by racing it over the contours of a real motorcycle, in an unstaged scene, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
Pilgrims bath in the Hindu holy city of Pushkar during the full moon Puja (Kartik Purnima) of November 2012, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
Pilgrims bath in the Hindu holy city of Pushkar during the full moon Puja (Kartik Purnima) of November 2012, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
