I'm sitting on the rooftop of our hotel, enjoying the last sunrise in Pushkar before we leave. Compared to the hectic bustling scene of Delhi, Pushkar feels like a scene out of an old timey Bollywood movie. Our time here helped me reflect on why manmade places are able to be sacred to people and at the same time figure out why I'm so interested in going to Hindu temples.
The full day we spent in Pushkar was wonderful. First we went to the Brahma temple. Because it was a festival day, there were tons of worshippers there paying their respects. We were all handed flowers to offer to Brahma and the other gods in the temple. I couldn't believe how pushy everyone was to give their offerings. At the temple I go to in the US, people generally become pushy after doing he Aarti and are receiving their blessing. I guess since there were so many people visiting the temple, there was no time for people to just linger. Then we went to the center lake of Pushkar and saw hundreds of people gathering to worship.
Afterwards a group of us went to the Sikh temple and stopped at a few Hindu temples on the way. There was one temple which only Indians were allowed, no foreignors. I was a little taken abackby this, but considering it was a holy day and and most of us were clearly only there to take pictures, I can understand why we weren't allowed inside. Another tenple we went to seemed to be empty, but after a little exploring we found the priests of the temple and he gave us a tour. The sikh temple itself was very nice and had a beautiful view of the village. Later that day we went to a small, but very ornate Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna and Arjun from the Mahabharata. The priest there was kind enough to tell us what the other Gods pictured on the walls were.
At all of these temples, I though the priests were kindly and happy to answer our questions. At the same time, they were always conscious of upholding their duty to maintain the integrity and holiness of these sites.
On a side note, I'm still not used to being in a place where Hindus are the majority and everyone looks like me. I've never felt bad about being a minority in the US, but I never realized how nice it is to have a common cultural bond with people outside my family.
PS: I typed all of this out on my phone so I sincerely apolofize for any terribe, random spelling errors
The full day we spent in Pushkar was wonderful. First we went to the Brahma temple. Because it was a festival day, there were tons of worshippers there paying their respects. We were all handed flowers to offer to Brahma and the other gods in the temple. I couldn't believe how pushy everyone was to give their offerings. At the temple I go to in the US, people generally become pushy after doing he Aarti and are receiving their blessing. I guess since there were so many people visiting the temple, there was no time for people to just linger. Then we went to the center lake of Pushkar and saw hundreds of people gathering to worship.
Afterwards a group of us went to the Sikh temple and stopped at a few Hindu temples on the way. There was one temple which only Indians were allowed, no foreignors. I was a little taken abackby this, but considering it was a holy day and and most of us were clearly only there to take pictures, I can understand why we weren't allowed inside. Another tenple we went to seemed to be empty, but after a little exploring we found the priests of the temple and he gave us a tour. The sikh temple itself was very nice and had a beautiful view of the village. Later that day we went to a small, but very ornate Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna and Arjun from the Mahabharata. The priest there was kind enough to tell us what the other Gods pictured on the walls were.
At all of these temples, I though the priests were kindly and happy to answer our questions. At the same time, they were always conscious of upholding their duty to maintain the integrity and holiness of these sites.
On a side note, I'm still not used to being in a place where Hindus are the majority and everyone looks like me. I've never felt bad about being a minority in the US, but I never realized how nice it is to have a common cultural bond with people outside my family.
PS: I typed all of this out on my phone so I sincerely apolofize for any terribe, random spelling errors
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