Hin: पुष्कर pushkar
‘Blue Lotus’ – City, Rajasthan
From Skt: puṣkara, ‘blue lotus-flower’ [Nelumbium Speciosum or Nymphaea Nelumbo].
Pushkar is famous for the Kartik Mela, the annual Camel Fair featuring thousands of camels, horses and heads of cattle; and hundreds of thousands of visitors. The fair [Skt/Hin: melaka/melā] is held in the month of Kartik [October-November].
Pushkar, a pilgrimage town, has 52 ghats leading down to the Lake and 400 temples. Pilgrims walk down the steps to bathe in the waters which are rumoured to wash away sins and skin disease. On the hilltop on one side of the lake is the temple of Savitri, the Gayatri temple is on the other side.
Maybe blue lotuses grew here at one time, or maybe someone thought the lake looked like a blue lotus. In legend the name comes from the story of how flowers [Skt: púṣpa] fell from the hand [Skt: kara] of Brahma the Creator to create the Lake.
Pushkar Bernard Gagnon
