Walks in India: Pushkar
This post is part of a series on ‘Walks in India‘.
Place: Pushkar
Highlights: Lakeside walk, Holy Ghats, Brahma Temple, Rangji Temple
Season: October to March, when it is not hot.
Time of the day: Evening – 3.30pm to 7pm
Distance: Approximately 3kms
Difficulty: Easy
Map. This is an interactive map of the walk. Zoom in to get a closer look. Click on the blue markers to identify of each location.
View Walks in India – Pushkar in a larger map
Places to see and walking map of Pushkar
The Walk.
Start from Rangji Temple near the North-East corner of the lake. This is a quiet and relatively less visited temple, but has beautiful Gopuras that are worth a visit.
From here, walk towards the lake, get down the steps and into the ghats at the north-east corner. You can see long ghats on either side of you which have steps leading into the lake, and many temples along the walls. You can watch people taking ritual bath, helped by priests or hire a priest yourself. Often you can see hundreds of pigeons along the ghats. If you wish to, buy grains on the ghats and feed the pigeons.
Spend leisurely time on the ghats, get back to the road and walk west. The road is full of shops servicing backpackers, selling colorful cloths, trinkets, restaurants serving international cuisine, internet cafes, etc. Walk on this road till you hit Brahma Temple, and get into the temple. This is said to be the only temple dedicated to Brahma in the world, since Brahma is usually not worshiped in temple. Walk along the narrow lanes around the temple, where you can discovering people preparing local delicacies in small restaurants. Stop for a sugary Malpua or an Aloo Tikki if you are up to it.
Continue circumambulating the lake. As you go further, you will see some open spaces and better views of the lake. You also cross a bridge, where it is required to remove your footwear and walk. There are many cafes along the walk where you can stop for coffee or snacks. All through the walk, you will also see small temples which you can explore.
The walk ends when you complete the circle and return to where you started.