Author Archives: Sevak

Scriptural References

Pushkar Tirtha

Mahabharata says- The holy place of Lord Vishnu, Pushkar-tirtha, renowned in the three worlds, is situated on this earth. Fortunate souls can enter that place. O son of the Kuru dynasty, at Pushkar billions of tirthas gather at sunrise and sunset. Simply taking bath at Pushkar destroys sin of both men and women, including the sin that caused their birth. As Madhusudana is the original God, so Pushkar is the original tirtha.

The Mahabharata says that while laying down a program for Maharaja Yudhishthara’s travel, “Maharaja after entering the Jungles of Sind and crossing the small rivers on the way should bathe in Pushkara”.

In the Mahabharata, while describing to Bhisma, the grandfather of the Pandavas, the glories of many tirthas, or holy places of pilgrimage, the sage Pulastya mentions Puskar Tirtha first. He says that Puskar is famous throughout the universe and anyone who goes there becomes as exalted as Lord Brahma. Among various blessings obtained by bathing at Pushkar: one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, even the planet of Lord Brahma.

Later when after Brahma had empowered Puskar to grant these extraordinary blessings, some of the devas, or demigods, complained to him that he had made it too easy for people to attain the heavenly planets. They feared that people would neglect their religious duties and the earth would be plagued with irreligion and its consequences. Lord Brahma conceded and proclaimed that from that time on, the boon of elevation to heaven by bathing at Puskar would be granted only during the last five days of the month of Karttika (October–November). Today tens of thousands of people visit Puskar during that period, and a great festival takes place.

As per Vaman Purana, Prahlada on his pilgrimage to holy places visited Pushkarayana.

The Ramayana mentions that Vishwamitra performed penance at Pushkar Lake for thousand years. Inspite of Brahma appearing before him and granting him the higher status of a rishi instead of a royal-sage (rajarishi), Vishwamitra continued his penance, but, the apsara, Menaka came to the lake to take a bath. Vishwamitra was enamored by her beauty and they decided to live together in pursuit of pleasure for ten years. Then, Vishwamitra realized that his main activity of penance was disturbed. He, therefore, took leave of Menaka and went away to the north to continue his meditation.

Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.12.61) states, “One who controls his mind, fasts at the holy places Puskar, Mathura, or Dvaraka, and studies this scripture will be freed from all fear.”

Pushkar

Pushkar

Once Lord Brahma, the empowered creator of the universe, desired to have a place on earth dedicated to him. So he threw three lotus petals toward the earth. When the petals landed, three holy lakes sprung up. Because the lakes were created from the flower (puñpa) thrown from Brahmä’s hand (kara), the area is known as Pushkar. The three lakes are known as Jyeñöha Pushkar (senior Pushkar), Madhya Pushkar (middle Pushkar) and Kaniñöha Pushkar (junior Pushkar) or Budha (old) Pushkar, as it is more commonly known today.

These three places are located within the radius of six miles.

1) Senior Pushkar- It is the place where hotels are located. It is considered the most holy, because the lotus fell here first.

2) Middle Pushkar- It is three kilometers down the road. It has a small hanuman temple and a 200 year old banyan tree.

3) New (junior) Pushkar- It is three kilometres further north. It has a small Krishna temple. Pushkar word may also be derived from word ‘Pushkarni’ which means ‘lake’.

Near by Places

EKLINGA JI TEMPLE

Ek Lingaji Temple

This temple is in the small village of Eklingaji or Kailashapuri, 22km north of Udaipur, 30 km south of Nathdwara. This impressive, white marble temple dates to 1473. Eklingaji, Lord Siva, is the patron deity of the royal family of Udaipur. Eklingaji is known as “Kailashpuri,” the abode of Lord Siva. Inside the temple are silver doors, silver lamps, and a silver bull. There is a black marble, four-faced deity of Lord Siva in the temple.

The story of this temple goes back to the time of Bappa Rawal, one of the kings of Mewar who reigned from 714-767. His capital was the huge fort at Chittor, which remained the capital of Mewar until 1567. When he was a boy, Bappa worked as a cow-herd. One of his cows would always come back from the fields without any milk, and Bappa was accused of stealing the milk. Feeling hurt by this accusation, Bappa watched out for this cow and discovered what was happening. There was a hermit sitting in deep trance amidst the bushes. The cow would go there and milk would spontaneously drain from its udder onto the area where the sage was sitting to nourish the sage. When Bappa saw this, the sage came out of his trance and was friendly toward him. Bappa would bring him milk every day and the sage educated Bappa with spiritual knowledge from the Shaivite school of thought. His teacher was quite pleased with Bappa’s progress and called him the “Regent of Eklinga.” To pay his respects to his teacher, Bappa constructed the Eklingaji Shiva temple where he had first met the sage.

The temple is open 4.30 to 6.30 am, 10.30 am to 1 pm, and 5.30 to 7 pm.

KANKROLI

Kankroli

Its 18 km north of Nathdwara, there is temple of Lord Dwarkadisha, managed by the Vallabhacaryasampradaya. The legend is that the deity came from Mathura where He was worshiped thousands of years ago by the great devotee King Ambarisha. The temple is located on the bank of Lake of Raja Samand.

CHARBUJAJI

Charbuja Ji

From Kankroli you can go 36 kilometers to the Charbhujaji temple, which has a deity of Krishna in His four-handed form. In this area, the four temples of Nathdwara, Kankroli, Charbuja, and Ekalingji represent the four major holy dhamas of India, namely Jagan­nathaPuri, Dwarka, Badrinatha, and Ramesvaram respectively.