The Pushkar Bagh, Pushkar is 11-kms from Ajmer (132 kms from Jaipur) on the edge of the desert lies the tiny tranquil town of Pushkar along the bank of the picturesque Pushkar Lake. This is an important pilgrimage spot for the Hindus, which has the only temple of Lord Brahma in the country and one of the few in the world. Lord Brahma is known as the creator of the world as per the Hindu mythology. It's marked by red spire, and over the entrance gateway is the hans, or goose symbol, of Brahma, who is said to have personally chosen Pushkar as its site.
The lake has a mythological significance associated with it. According to myth, Lord Brahma was on his way to search for a suitable place to perform a "Yagna' (a fire sacrifice) while contemplating, a lotus fell from his hand on the earth and water sprouted from that place. One of them was Pushkar where Lord Brahma performed "Yagna".
As indicated by Pushkar's position as the starting point of the grand pilgrimage, the worship of Brahma was considered highly important at the end of the first millenium BC. Pushkar is the only pilgrimage shrine dedicated to Brahma in all of India, and few pilgrims visit the shrine. The function of Brahma - creating the world - has been completed, while Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer) still have relevance to the continuing order of the universe. Brahma is also a god of the Aryan invaders and during Vedic times his cult temporarily displaced the more ancient indigenous Shiva and Shakti cults. With the passing of the period of major Aryan influence, these deities reemerged more powerful than before.
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