Pushkar Lake
Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is located in the town of Pushkar near Ajmer city in Ajmer district of the Rajasthan state of western India. Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake for the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures describe it as "Tirtha-Guru" – the perceptor of pilgrimage sites related to a water-body and relate it to the mythology of Brahma, the creator-god in Hinduism, whose most prominent temple stands in Pushkar. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC.
Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats, where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima when the Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu temples are situated around the lake precincts.
Tourism, deforestation and pollution in the surroundings have taken a heavy toll on the lake, adversely affecting its water quality, reducing the water levels and destroying the fish population. As part of conservation measures, the government is undertaking de-silting, de-weeding, water treatment, and afforestation as well as mass awareness programme.
Geography
Pushkar Lake around which the Pushkar town has developed is in the Ajmer district in the state of Rajasthan, India amidst the Aravalli range of hills. The mountain range known as Nag Parbat separates the lake from the city of Ajmer. The valley is formed between the two parallel ranges of the Aravalli hills and streams and 40% of the area is agricultural.Climate
The region experiences semi-arid climatic conditions with dry and hot summers and cool winters. The summer months of May and June are the hottest, with a maximum temperature of around. During the winter months, the maximum mean temperature is in the range of. Rain mainly occurs during a short spell of two months during July and August. The recorded average rainfall is in the range of. Rainfall is also recorded some times during winter months of January and February.From April to September, strong winds blowing in the southwest to northeast direction add to the formation of sand dunes.
Hydrology
The Pushkar Lake drains a catchment of the Aravalli hills covering an area of. The lake has a water surface area of. It is a perennial lake sourced by the monsoon rainfall over the catchment. The depth of water in the lake varies from season to season from. The total storage capacity of the lake is 0.79 million cubic metres. As the lake periphery is encircled by 52 ghats of various sizes, the surface water flow from the catchment into the lake is channeled through a series of arches under a footbridge, long at the southern end. The footbridge facilitates the parikrama that is performed by pilgrims around the lake covering all the 52 ghats.Flora and fauna
Pushkar Lake, when full, is rich in fish and other aquatic life. The depth of the lake has substantially shrunk - to less than from a maximum of - resulting in the death of large fish weighing, caused due to the viscous water and the lack of oxygen for the fish to survive. Since the region where the lake and its valley is situated is arid, the flora and fauna recorded relate to desert plants, including cactus and thorny bushes, as well as desert animals like camels and cattle. Man-eating crocodiles used to be a menace in the Puskhar Lake, resulting in the deaths of people. Pilgrims were aware of this fact, yet many considered it lucky to be eaten by crocodiles. The crocodiles were caught with nets by the British and shifted to a nearby reservoir.History
Pushkar Lake's history dates back to the 4th century BC. Numismatics, in the form of punched Greek and Kushan coins date the lake back to this time. Inscriptions found at Sanchi attest to the lake's existence to the 2nd century BC. This suggests Pushkar Lake was already pilgrimage site, even if it did not lie on the trade route.In the fifth century AD, Jin Chinese Buddhist monk and traveller Fa Xian made reference to the number of visitors to Pushkar Lake.
A story tells of a 9th-century Gurjara king, Nahar Rao Pratihar of Mandore, chasing a white boar to the lakeshore on a hunting expedition. In order to quench his thirst, he dipped his hand into the lake and was astonished to see the Leukoderma marks on his hand had disappeared. Impressed with the sacred curative nature of the lake, he got the lake restored to its glory. After discovering the curative properties of the lake, people have since visited to immerse in its waters and hope to be healed of skin problems.
The creation of Pushkar Lake, as an artificial lake, is also credited to the 12th century when a dam was built across the headwaters of the Luni River. The 10th Sikh guru, Guru Govind Singh, is said to have recited the Sikh sacred text Guru Granth Sahib on the banks of the lake.
During the Mughal rule, there was a short break in the lake's importance due to the levy of a pilgrim tax and a ban on religious processions. In 1615–16, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir built his hunting lodge on the shores of Pushkar Lake to celebrate his victory over the local Rajput Rana. He came to the lodge 16 times for hunting during his stay in Ajmer, about from Pushkar. This act violated the local taboo on killing any animals in the precincts of the sacred lake. He also committed sacrilege by breaking an image of Varaha, the boar Avatar of the god Vishnu, as it resembled a pig and thus was seen ans offensive to Islamic sensibilities. Jahangir's grandson, Emperor Aurangzeb, later destroyed and desecrated several temples, which were later rebuilt. However, during the rule of Jahangir's father, Emperor Akbar, there was a revival of not only the lake but also the Ajmer's Dargah dedicated to Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, of whom Akbar was a devotee.
The Rajput rulers of Amber, Bundi, Bikaner and Jaisalmer made great efforts to restore the importance of the lake and its surrounding temples. Credits given for modern additions to the building of ghats and the renovation/construction of temples go to Maharaja Man Singh I of Amber for the Raj Ghat and Man temple; Maha Rana Pratap for the Varaha temple; Daulat Rao Scindia for Kot Tirth Ghat, the Marathas-Anaji Scindia to the Koteshwar Mahadev temple and Govind Rao, the Maratha governor of Ajmer for Shiva Ghat; to the British Raj for combining the religious pilgrimage with a cattle fair to generate revenues to improving the lake and its surroundings; and gifting of the Jaipur Ghat and the Main Palace on the ghat in 1956 by the Maharaja of Jaipur.
Religious significance
There are various legends from Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Puranic scriptures which mention the Pushkar Lake and the town of Pushkar surrounding it.According to the Hindu scripture Padma Purana, Brahma saw the demon Vajranabha trying to kill his children and harassing people. He immediately slew the demon with his weapon, the lotus-flower. In this process, the lotus petals fell on the ground at three places, where springs emerged creating three lakes: the Pushkar Lake or Jyeshta Pushkar, the Madya Pushkar Lake, and Kanishta Pushkar lake. When Brahma came down to the earth, he named the place where the flower fell from Brahma's hand as "Pushkar". It is also said that the sacred Sarasvati River emerged at Pushkar as five streams. The three lakes were assigned their presiding deities as the Hindu Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. When Brahma came down to the earth, he named the place where the lotus fell as 'Pushkar'. Brahma then decided to perform a yagna at the place, at the main Pushkar Lake. However, his wife Savitri could not be present at the designated time to perform the essential part of the yagna. Brahma, therefore, married a Gujjar, a dominant agricultural race named Gayatri and completed the yagna with his new consort sitting beside him. However, when Savitri finally arrived at the venue, she found Gayatri sitting next to Brahma in her rightful place. Agitated, she cursed Brahma that he would be worshipped only in Pushkar. As a result of this, yagna performed in the presence of all the gods, it is said that a dip in the lake created at this place is credited with holiness, assuring salvation from all sins. It is now one of the five holiest centres of pilgrimage for Hindus.
Ramayana and Mahabharata refer to Pushkar Lake as Adi Tirtha, or the "original sacred water-body". The famous Sanskrit poet and play-writer Kalidasa also referred to this lake in his poem Abhijñānaśākuntalam. The Ramayana mentions that Vishwamitra performed penance at Pushkar Lake for a thousand years. In spite of Brahma appearing before him and granting him the higher status of a rishi instead of a royal-sage, Vishwamitra continued his penance, but, the celestial nymph apsara, Menaka came to the lake to take a bath. Vishwamitra was enamoured by her beauty and they decided to live together in pursuit of pleasure for ten years. Then, Vishwamitra realized that his main activity of penance was disturbed. He, therefore, took leave of Menaka and went away to the north to continue his meditation. Vishwamitra was also described as building the Brahma temple at Pushkar after Brahma's yagna. Mahabharata mentions that Pushkar is a holy place of the god Vishnu, considered as the Adi Tirtha where millions of tirthas united during sunrise and sunset, and visiting the lake and taking a holy bath in the lake would wash off all sins.
According to Hindu theology, there are five sacred lakes collectively called Panch-Sarovar. Namely, Mansarovar, Bindu Sarovar, Narayan Sarovar, Pampa Sarovar and Pushkar Sarovar; hence, Pushkar is considered one of the most sacred places in India. It is also the belief of devotees that a dip in the waters of the lake on Kartik Poornima would equal the benefits that would accrue by performing yagnas for several centuries. Pushkar is often called "Tirtha-Raj" - the king of pilgrimage sites related to water-bodies. The scriptures also mention that doing parikrama of the three lakes, which cover a distance of, during the Kartik Poornima day would be highly auspicious. International Business Times has identified Pushkar as one of the ten most religious places in the world and one of the five sacred pilgrimage places for the Hindus, in India.