City Of All Faiths (Concluded)

The other major tourist destination in Ajmer is a visit to Pushkar. Although Pushkar is famed for its colourful fair held in the month of October, it has another claim to fame. One of few temples dedicated to Lord Brahma is located here. The distance from Ajmer to Pushkar is roughly 15 kilometers and takes about 45 minutes to cover. The scenery is quite picturesque cutting through the Aravalli hills. One particular spot on the way provides a breathtaking view of city of Ajmer. And it is a sight right out of story books. The city is spread around the huge Anasager lake and is overlooked by the Aravallis on almost all sides. The blue lake and green hills give the city a dream like appearance.

Cutting Across



Lush Green Aravallis

Valley Called Ajmer

 

Brahma Temple

The approach to the Brahma temple was narrow and congested. The cab dropped us a few feet from the temple entrance. There was a huge crowd already. Innumerable hawkers and salesmen of local shops (far outnumbering the visitors!) thronged the surrounding area making it difficult to walk. We literally had to wade our way though. The local practice is to first take a dip in the holy water lake situated at a walking distance of 10 minutes. Thereafter you can enter the temple. By the time we came back from the lake, the crowds had somewhat reduced (thankfully!). We deposited our footwear with a makeshift shop, purchased the offering and climbed the stairs. It may be noted that bags, camera etc. are not permitted inside the temple so it is preferable to leave them in the cab. We completed the climb of about 70-80 steps without further ado. However, akin to the entrance at the mosque, there was no organized queue at the entrance to the main deity’s sanctum and it resulted in considerable pushing from impatient pilgrims in the final flight of stairs (about 10 steps). Once you reached the top you can quickly offer your prayers and move down the stairs to the other side. There are various other deities within the main temple complex.  

The hotel’s cab services to Pushkar are on the higher side. For a 4 hour trip where the travel is maximum 35 kilometer, they charge Rs. 1200/- for a Tata Indigo. This is nothing short of daylight robbery. What was even more shocking to us is that the trip was complete in about 2½ hours. The cab could not be utilized other than for visiting any other temple or gurdwara located on that stretch. What a waste of money. In Gurgaon cab charges for 8 hours or 80 kilometers will come at the same or lesser fare!  

 

3 days had passed in a jiffy in this wonderful city. Ajmer has the distinction of being one of the few cities where 2 major religions co-exist peacefully side by side. The warmth and hospitability of the people here make it very endearing to a tourist. However, it has its drawbacks as well. Consumerism has taken its toll here as well. The city roads especially those from the railway station to the area around the hotel are very dirty. On some roads and at one small entrance to the lake, garbage had piled up. The vehicular traffic is haphazardly regulated…traffic police seemed quite helpless (or perhaps didn’t care much). I have my doubts if pollution checks are ever carried out on the automobiles, the black unhealthy smoke emitted by most auto riskshaws together with the obnoxious smell is very nauseating.

We Desperately Need Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

 

Inspite of all this, when we finally reached the station and boarded the Shatabdi Express to Delhi, our mind was filled with fond memories of a weekend well spent. The long Independence Day weekend gave us true independence in our travel and stay in Ajmer.