Nic Nak Dappled Sunlight: November 2014

We visited a local home for chai. This is the grandfather and his grandchild.

Daughter-in-law making cardamom chai

As per custom, this mother is not permitted to speak directly to her father-in-law, nor show her face to him. We were lucky she removed her head cover for a moment to photograph, when he was looking away.

All cooking is done outside

The outside of this house was very decorated.

Our 3 camel drivers for the week.

Camels are painted, decorated and given haircuts to attract buyers.

A chai stall. Before sun-up.

Keeping warm at the start of another day in the desert.

Early morning begins ...

The colour of their turban is dependent on whether they are a trader or a buyer.

Camel dung is collected, which is pounded into round flat disks and used to fuel campfires.

Kisses and smooches.
The dark camels (some were really close to black in colour) are a local Rajastani breed.

A camel meeting

This is not a trading session, but they are inspecting a camel. In a trading session, the buyer and seller walk away together, holding hands. They use their fingers and palms to negotiate, no words are spoken. It keeps the eventual price a secret between the buyer and seller.

A decorated camel. He's been given a haircut also.

Decorating his camel.

Friends catching up in the desert.

A buyer and his team, watching a camel being put through it's paces.

The young camel at the back of the herd fell into the water trough. The result ... 11 photographers got splashed !

More kisses. You can tell a camel's age, by how many teeth it has. They fall out as they get older.

A market stall selling camel decorating apparel.

Camel dung - flattened, dried and ready for sale. Traders use these patties on their fires to cook and keep warm.

Lying down (this is how they sleep) ready for some face painting decoration.

Oh boo. An unintentional photo-bomb.

Puppets

Doorway decorations for sale.

Bathing in the Ghat before the Aarathi (Hindu ceremony). Photography not allowed, so this was a secret shot !!!

Pushkar Lake
The legend about the Creator God, Bramha describes the creation of this lake. When the demon Vajra Nabha killed Brahmas children, Brahma struck him with his weapon, a lotus flower. Vajra Nabha died, and the petals of the lotus fell at three places. One of them is Pushkar, where a lake sprung into being. Brahma is supposed to have performed sacrifice at this lake hallowing the place. Sacred to Brahma, Pushkar boasts of its temple dedicated to him, which is the only one of its kind in the world.
A dip in the waters of Pushkar and worship at his temple ensure salvation. The famed waters of the Pushkar lake wash away the sins of a lifetime. The mystical water is also believed to cure skin diseases, making Pushkar the Lourdes of the East.

Looking down on the Thar desert. This was day 2 or 3 of the fair. It got SO much more crowded. Blue structure to the right is the stadium. Later in the week, they hold camel races, horse races and many other tourist-attracting events. We went at the beginning of the fair, when it was the trading time, and less touristy. Awesome experience.

A Grey Langur Monkey sitting on a wall at the Savitri Temple.

Pushkar Town. Note the Ghat (Pushkar Lake) in the middle frame.

Looking down from Savitri Temple at a herd of camels arriving at the fair.

More and more camels keep arriving. This space filled with camels within 2 days!!!

At the beginning of the climb of 1.5km of steps to the Temple. It gets rougher and steeper on the way up. Most locals drop their shoes along the way and climb bare-feet.

This white bull looks like a unicorn with his one horn. The other grew downwards near his ear.

Yes, there were a couple of stampedes ....

Savitri Temple. We set out at 4am to climb this hill and catch the sunrise.
There is a Youtube video from a tourist of the descent. Just watch the first 4-5 minutes to understand the difficulty of this climb !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zurxyn21h0A

Savitri Temple
Pushkar is surrounded on three sides by hills. One of the hill is known as Ratnagiri, which houses the Goddess Savitri, the estranged wife of Brahma. The savitri hill is around 750 feet. Pilgrimage to savitri hill is 1.5Kms. It is strenuous and hard. It is believed that harder one tries, the more tapas (heat generated by penance) is gained.
When Brahma performed yajna (a ritual sacrifice) at Pushkar, due to unknown reasons Savitri (his wife) could not reach the site at the right time. So Brahma performed yajna accompanied by a local girl, Gayatri – who become his second wife. This annoyed the first wife Savitri and she went to the hilltop. Then the agreement was made that Savitri would always be worshiped first and then Gayatri. Tradition still continues – first arti (hindu ritual of worship) is performed at Savitri temple and then at Gayatri temple. The idols of both Savitri and Gayatri are now installed at the Savitri Temple.

Beautiful saddles are put on a camel during a sale negotiation. Only male camels are used for riding, hauling and carting. Females and their young are sold later in the week and are for breeding, not farm work.