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 boy eats carrots and mutter (peas) handed out for free as part of the government food assistance program, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A favorite photo, a primitive toy tractor, Sidiyas village, Rajasthan, India. Rock mining is common in the area, and the toy is mimicing the tractors hauling rocks that are common in the region.
Wire cage that likley once protected a mango tree or something similar, above the Nareli Jain temple, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
A horse passes a sleek black late model Mercedes in the desert at the Pushkar Camel Fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Albino sisters plays with a Rubik's cube given as a gift, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
A boy and his horse at the beautiful mosque near Taragarh fort, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. He charges tourists to sit on the horse for a photo-op with the Mosque in the background.
A woman from the Cheeta caste prepares Chapati bread from wheat grown only five minutes away, Kharekhari village, Rajasthan, India
A favorite photo, a primitive toy tractor, Sidiyas village, Rajasthan, India. Rock mining is common in the area, and the toy is mimicing the tractors hauling rocks that are common in the region.
Wild langur monkey mothers and babies in desert woodlands, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A boy carries a lantern during a marriage procession, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Low caste children are employed at just six cents per hour to do this work.
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.
Puppy with leg injuries recovering at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) 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.
The awesome spirit of Rajastjan in one photo, children in the very small and remote (not on any maps or in any official records) Nadi village, Rajasthan, India
Decaying Indian Pariah street dog in the sand at the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva Temple, near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Likely hit by a vehicle.
Weathered idol of Sherawali Mata (Tiger Goddess Mother), a very popular deity in the region surrouding Pushkar, Budha Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
A volunteer shares affection with a dog at the Tree of Life for Animals rescue center (tolfa.org.uk) near Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Foggy morning in the rocky foothills of the Aravali Range above the 7th century Ajaypal Shiva temple, 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.
A farmer shows his papita (papaya) tree, Nagaur village, Rajasthan, India. The yield is used only to make papaya juice drinks for his family. It is highly valued for this purpose.
A farmer talks on his mobile phone while sitting proudly on his tractor in front of his favorite personal horse, Killa village Rajasthan, India
A goat herder atop the highest point in the entire Pushkar region, in the Aravali mountains near Leela Seori, Rajasthan, India
Marble statuette of Saraswati next to metal boxes holding mustard oil, Budha 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
Beautiful Bhagwanpura village, Rajasthan, India, set amongst flower and vegetable farms in the Thar Desert
Albino girl, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. The family of ten albinos is panhandling during the Pushkar Camel Fair.
Massive ancient tree (sp.) near remote Kesarpura village, Rajasthan, India. This is the largest non-fig tree I have ever seen in the Thar Desert. It must be many hundreds of years old.
Cigarettes with graphic warning labels for sale at a market, Badi Basti, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. Tobacco and smoking are epidemic across India. Cigarettes are barely regulated and cost next to nothing.
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 farmer talks on his mobile phone while sitting proudly on his tractor in front of his favorite personal horse, Killa village Rajasthan, India
