Ajmer & Pushkar

Next day morning at 9.00 am, we had train, Aravalli Express to Ajmer. Good that our hotel was nearby railway station. We got up at around 7.00 and refreshed ourselves. I ordered for 2 cups of tea. We checked out before 8.00 AM. We went to nearby Khandelwal bhojanalaya for morning breakfast. We had awesome Paneer paratha with a cup of tea. It was yummy yummy and the taste of it still linger to me. That was the best one I ever had it in my life. Paratha was well stuffed with grated paneer and lot of ghee on it. One was sufficient for both of us. 

We ran to railway at 8.40 and got into our train. One of the co-passenger was getting acquainted with my hubby we were enquiring about the Ajmer station. He asked my hubby about his residential place and the passenger was very excited listening “Mumbai” He asked him if he was a bollywood actor. For people from towns, Mumbai is about only bollywood. No doubt my hubby was looking dashing in that attire with his cooling glass. I couldn’t control laughing. Then he asked about opinion on me and the passenger said that I was looking like a Madrasi heroine (Mind it, all south indian’s are Madrasis). I was stunned. Since then, my hubby got an opportunity to keep me teasing. 

At around 11.20, we reached Ajmer. My husband was very keen on RTDC hotels only, on which I wasn’t. From the station, we enquired about Hotel Khadim with the station master. He suggested that the auto fare would take around 30-40 bucks only. When we stepped out, the autowala & taxiwala were offering to take us to Hotel Khadim for Rs.150 bucks. We bargained for 40 and reached Hotel Khadims. We asked them for arranging cab for day tour which was already at the lawn. We took Alto and decided to start our journey from Pushkar which is just 11 kms from Ajmer. 

Pushkar is surrounded by hills and one capture lot of beautiful scenery from your vehicle. This place is famous for 2 reasons. One is for religious and the other one is commercial; trading of horses, camels, cows and bulls. The Pushkar fair or Pushkar Mela attracts visitors from the world over for 5 days during Kartik ekadashi to Kartik poornima (October-November). During this time, pilgrims take holy dip in the lake. There is music in the air, dance, celebration and colourful shops spring up during the fair. Puppet shows, camel races go hand in hand with cattle auctions. Since, we went in February, we were not lucky enough. 

Pushkar Lake: It is believed taking holy bath in this lake will wash out all the sins.

Brahma Temple: It is the only temple in this world dedicated to Lord Brahma.Before entering this temple, the tourists are required to hand over there leather bags, belts and camera to the security at the door on a nominal charge. I wasn't able to capture any picture as the camera was deposited with the security at door.

We then started back to ajmer and halted at one of the hotel on the recommendation of the chauffeur. We filled our tummy with dal bati churma, but it wasn’t on par with the one that we had at Santosh Bhojanalya, Jaipur. 

Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra: One next spot was the Dargah and the entrance of it starts from Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra. It is so named as the construction took two and a half days (Adhai-din) to complete. Although in need of restoration, it's an exquisite piece of architecture, with soaring domes, pillars and a beautiful arched, largely built from pieces of Jain and Hindu temples. 

Dargah-Khwaza-Sahib: This Dargah is very popular among pilgrims India. The shrine is next only to Mecca or Medina for the Muslims of South Asia. The Dargah is at walking distance from Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra as no cabs and taxis are allowed on this route. Our chauffeur had warned us against pick-pocketer and duplicate items that are sold. Also, he had given me his mobile number that I left it in the cab. Actually, what had happened was we had left our luggage in the cab as we were planning to move Jodhpur by bus the same evening. We searched for the cab for almost an hour. My hubby had been using my mobile on roaming. So we neither had hotel Khadim number. I was panic as we were not able to find our cab. We immediately made an auto to the hotel and explained him the entire situation. The hotel staff were very helpful tracing the cab. I thought we had lost luggage, cash and mobile. Thanks to my husband on relying RTDC hotels.

Nasiya (Red) Temple: There wasn't much to explore in Ajmer except the Jain Temple. This is a masterpiece depicting Jain mythology legends that are in gold and silver plated. Very beautiful and must see by any tourists.

The Museum: Once a royal residence of Mughal Emperor is now an ruined  repository of the Mughal and Rajput armour and exquisite sculpture. This monument requires restoration work.

This was our last place. We asked driver to drop us at bus stop around 4.30 PM for our next journey by local bus to Jodhpur....Actually, we had our train scheduled to Jaisalmer from Jodhpur at 23:45. 

My blog contents is more of generic information, logistic to travel, and the places of interest. I am sure, the history of each of these religious places can be found in many website. RTDC official website is rich source of information for all the tourists. I have inserted relevant link for curious readers on the history of each of these places.