I had earlier posted of our trip,
purposefully travelling 140 odd kms from
the Pink city Jaipur to this holy place ~ a place known for even-toed ungulates
bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" ~ the not so good
looking Camel. ~ Pushkar, a town in the Ajmer
It is the place where Lord is worshipped
in the form of water (lake). Pushkar in Sanskrit means blue lotus flower; Pushkar is perhaps derived from ‘pushkarini’ –
the holy lake. Legend has it that centuries ago, there was a demon by name
Vajranabhan. Brahma killed him with a
lotus flower.. there are big lakes, stated to be 52 of them – small and big
inside Pushkar. Of them the most important
being Jeshta Pushkarini dedicated to Brahma, Kanishta Pushkarini of Lord Siva
and Madhya Pushkarini dedicated to Sriman Maha Vishnu. Pushkar is believed to have been created by
Lord Brahma himself as the fit place for conducting yagna. For performance of
yagna, Brahma married Gayatri Devi, which in some ways led to the curse that
there will not be temples for Brahma and that he will not be worshipped
elsewhere.
Legend has it that Yudhistra bathed at
Pushkar as also Prahlada. Historically,
this is one of the places invaded by Ghaznavids and it was here that the
British ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe met with Jehangir in the year 1616. Adhi
Sankarar also visited this place.
The modern day Pushkar is not a big
city, but has many temples and lakes – all considered holy by the Hindus. This
otherwise sleepy town echoes with hectic activity during the Pushkar Camel Fair
and festival. The famous Brahma temple
known locally as ‘Jagatpita Brahma Mandir’.
After worshipping here, went to another temple called Purana Mandir…. It
is a temple constructed in 1844 according to the plaque – it is called ‘Sri Aranganatha
Venugopalar Temple
Miles away in Rajasthan ~ this temple
follows ‘Pancharathana agama’ and ‘Thennacharya’ sampradhayam. It is a beautifully made temple – combining
different architecture styles, yet looking like a South Indian temple. Moolavar here is very attractive Sri
Venugopalar in standing posture with flute in his hands; the Uthsavar is also
in a strikingly similar posture. As we
have darshan in the sannathi, on our right, there is Ranganathar in sayana
thirukolam with majestic looking Ranganathar.
On the left hand side, you are certain
to be blown off your feet … there is gigantic majestic thirumeni of Udayavar
resembling the one who argued with Jainese at Thondanur and a brilliant looking
Uthsavar of Sri Ramanujar. There is also beautiful vigraham (both Moolavar and
uthsavar) of Swami Manavala mamunigal inside the same sannithi. The Azhwargal here all look very similar.
Over all a grand pleasant Temple
The darshan had here was so fulfilling
that it lingers in memory, providing great mental peace and satisfaction.
Azhwar,
Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale saranam.
Adiyen Srinivasa dhasan.
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