Pushkar's Rhythms

An end has come to our time in Pushkar, a busy little hamlet arranged around a sacred lake that is an object of pilgrimage for faithful Hindus. We were fortunate to arrive in Pushkar in time for the full moon, as the many Rajastani villagers were gathering in the town on the auspicious occasion, turning up the volume on the streets and coloring them brilliantly. The Rajastanis are easily identifiable because the women wear the most vibrantly colored saris and adorn themselves with sparkles and gold jewelry, the latter often hanging in extravagant loops from nose to ear. The men from the villages also continue to wear traditional dress, unlike in most of the larger population centers. Long twists of cotton fabric twine around their domes creating turbans often twice the volume of their heads and long shirts hang over loose folds of thin cool cotton around their waists. The elders of both genders have craggy and well-etched faces; sun and dry winds inscribe long experience.

Pushkar, with ancient narrative connections to both the creator god Brahma and to the destroyer god Shiva, hosts a grand camel fair in the late fall when the desert heat has fallen. Tens of thousands of merchants and onlookers converge to buy and sell camels and all the goods of the region. The lunar and solar cycles are marked here, as through the ages, and it is easy to see the place as a static relic. But this is also the place in India where the Wi-Fi cloud has penetrated most thoroughly. Every hotel and tea house provides a link to the web, and the traveler has a reflexive impulse to check in on the world out there beyond Pushkar.

The sacred standing of the town draws brides and grooms to choose it as the location of their nuptials; the usual hum and vibration of the streets is often punctuated by great sonic flurries that accompany the bridal party. Assertive drummers punch out rhythms as brass players string runs of ascending notes in a studied cacophony. Gathered women in rainbows of hues accompany the bride in a measured saunter, while the younger men follow with the groom and the elders straggle at the end. As the group passes, the normal flow of foot traffic resumes.

Brahmin priests facilitate the sacred proceedings of the devout. As pilgrims approach the lake through the market, priests press flowers into their hands, and entreaties are made to approach the water’s edge where the blooms can be offered to the gods. Passing down steps, the visitors are seated as the brahmin commences the ceremony. Ritual assistants bring plates of standard offerings—coconuts, flowers, and the other necessities—as the words are intoned and the instructions dispensed. Small offerings of money are exchanged, and the spiritual connection is made and restored.