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Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth – so say the epics – and Pushkar floated to the surface. This pond-sized Hindu pilgrimage town is a magical desert-edged place, with one of the world’s few Brahma temples. Rows of sacred ghats front a mystically magnetic lake, where hundreds of milky-coloured temples and weather-touched domes sit beneath a shifting, pale grey sky.
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Smooth operators abound though, as dodgy priests try to outwit pious pilgrims who areintoxicated by God or
bhang (marijuana) but are either way enchanted by this much feted low-rent paradise. Try to play the part in Pushkar – no booze, meat, eggs or kissing – or risk offending what you came here to admire.
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Puskhar is 11km from
Ajmer, but is separated from it by the winding Nag Pahar (Snake Mountain).
Show in Lonely Planet