Day 10 - Pushkar
Okay, so the train thing actually did happen and we were very grossed out, but forged ahead to Pushkar anyways. The train was speedier than expected so we arrived in the holy city just 6 hours later. Upon arrival, we drove in jeeps up Snake Mountain, named for the winding roads and not for snakes.
A few of us weary travellers headed down to the sacred lake at the centre of Pushkar and participated in a Puja, a sacred ceremony to reset your karma and ask the gods for favour. We sat near the sacred water and were announced by the priest. Then we held yellow flowers in our hands and chanted a mantra, asking for safe and happy travels through India. Before us we had a plate with red powder, rice, sugar, flowers and yellow powder as well as a coconut. As we chanted another mantra, the priest explained what the offerings on the plate meant. Red powder is for good blood, good health. Rice is for good and plentiful food. Sugar is for a sweet life. Flowers are for a happy life with good family, good children. Yellow is the gods' favourite colour, so it is a special offering to please them and have them smile upon you. The priest came by and placed a finger print of red powder and three grains of rice on our foreheads to bless us. After a mantra and time to make a special request of the gods, we threw the contents of the plate into Pushkar lake. The priest tied a length of blessed red and yellow string to our right wrists (left if you are married) to bring good karma. We tossed more flowers over our right shoulder to rid ourselves of bad karma following us through life. Lastly, we left an offering for the blessing on the plate under the coconut.
Up from the lake, we heard loud dance music and went to check it out. A few trucks playing music were full of young boys throwing flowers down on the crowd of women dancing down the street! The women and girls invited us all to dance with them as the procession made its way down the road, flowers raining down on us.
We made a quick stop in Brahma's temple before heading to the outdoor stadium to watch some of the festival celebrations. There were sermons on stage, a big brass band, fireworks and an effigy of Rama which was to be light on fire. We stayed for about an hour, hearing just 10 more minutes about five times. Our guide confirmed that it was going to be a few more hours before they burned Rama. We decided to grab some dinner and call it a night instead as we had to be up at 4:30 the next morning for our hike to watch the sunrise from Shavitri Temple.
Today was the culmination of a big festival called Navaratri. The tenth day of the Navaratri festival is known as Dussehra. It's devoted to celebrating the defeat of the demon king Ravana by Lord Rama.
A few of us weary travellers headed down to the sacred lake at the centre of Pushkar and participated in a Puja, a sacred ceremony to reset your karma and ask the gods for favour. We sat near the sacred water and were announced by the priest. Then we held yellow flowers in our hands and chanted a mantra, asking for safe and happy travels through India. Before us we had a plate with red powder, rice, sugar, flowers and yellow powder as well as a coconut. As we chanted another mantra, the priest explained what the offerings on the plate meant. Red powder is for good blood, good health. Rice is for good and plentiful food. Sugar is for a sweet life. Flowers are for a happy life with good family, good children. Yellow is the gods' favourite colour, so it is a special offering to please them and have them smile upon you. The priest came by and placed a finger print of red powder and three grains of rice on our foreheads to bless us. After a mantra and time to make a special request of the gods, we threw the contents of the plate into Pushkar lake. The priest tied a length of blessed red and yellow string to our right wrists (left if you are married) to bring good karma. We tossed more flowers over our right shoulder to rid ourselves of bad karma following us through life. Lastly, we left an offering for the blessing on the plate under the coconut.
Up from the lake, we heard loud dance music and went to check it out. A few trucks playing music were full of young boys throwing flowers down on the crowd of women dancing down the street! The women and girls invited us all to dance with them as the procession made its way down the road, flowers raining down on us.
We made a quick stop in Brahma's temple before heading to the outdoor stadium to watch some of the festival celebrations. There were sermons on stage, a big brass band, fireworks and an effigy of Rama which was to be light on fire. We stayed for about an hour, hearing just 10 more minutes about five times. Our guide confirmed that it was going to be a few more hours before they burned Rama. We decided to grab some dinner and call it a night instead as we had to be up at 4:30 the next morning for our hike to watch the sunrise from Shavitri Temple.
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