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Pushkar
for a devout Hindu Pushkar is a very important
pilgrim centre, for one visit to this holy place
in a lifetime is highly prescribed.
Brahma forms the great Hindu trilogy of Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, each symbolising the lifecycle
of birth, preservation and destruction. Brahma
the creator is depicted as of four bearded heads
and four hands each holding a book of Vedas
(knowledge). His vehicle is the swan and his
consort is Savitri. According to the legend
Pushkar means a pond created by flower, was
formed when Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the
earth to determine a place for his yagna, a holy
sacrifice. The story goes that Brahma wanted to
perform the yagna at the most auspicious time
but his consort Savitri whose presence at the
yagna was vital for its performance kept him
waiting. Irritated by this Brahma married
Gayatri, a milkmaid and installed her instead.
Savitri on seeing someone else in her place was
infuriated and cursed Brahma that he would be
forgotten by people on earth and never
worshiped. She relented on pleas from other Gods
that he could only be worshiped in Pushkar,
hence there are no Brahma Temples elsewhere
Pushkar
History
Historically, Pushkar always had great strategic
importance and was sacked by Mahumud of Ghazni
on one of his periodic forays from Afghanistan.
Later it became a favorite residence of the
great Moghula. One of the first contacts between
the Moghula and the British occurred in Pushkar
when Sir Thomas Roe met with Jahangir here in
1616. The city was subsequently taken by the
Scindias and, in 1818, it was handed over to the
British, becoming one of the few places in
Rajasthan controlled directly by British rather
than being part of a princely state
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