Brahma Temple

Take off your shoes at the foot of the steps. The stone under your bare feet is cool in the early morning and almost too warm by midday. You hear temple bells, the slap of sandals left in heaps, and the low murmur of prayers. A thin smell of marigolds and incense drifts down from the top of the stairs. Above you, a red spire rises against a pale Rajasthani sky.

You are standing at the Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, the temple of Brahma in the small holy town of Pushkar. Pushkar lies a short drive from the city of Ajmer, across a low ridge of the Aravalli hills. The name Jagatpita means father of the world. It is a fitting title for the god inside, because in Hindu belief Brahma is the creator of the universe.

Here is the first surprise. Hinduism has three great gods at its centre: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. India has countless temples to Vishnu and Shiva. Temples devoted to Brahma, however, are very rare. This one in Pushkar is the most famous of the few that exist. For many pilgrims, a visit here is a once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Why is Brahma so seldom worshipped? Locals answer with a story, and it is legend rather than history. According to the tale, Brahma came to Pushkar to perform a great fire ritual. His wife, Savitri, was late. The ritual could not begin without a wife at his side. So Brahma married a local woman named Gayatri and started without Savitri.

When Savitri arrived and saw another woman beside her husband, she was furious. Legend has it that she placed a curse on Brahma. People would worship him in only one place on earth — and that place was Pushkar. Look up at the hills behind the town. On one summit stands a temple to Savitri. Pilgrims climb to it, often at dawn, and locals say she still watches the town from above.

The temple you see today is not the first on this site. Tradition says that a shrine stood here in very ancient times. The present building is usually dated to around the fourteenth century, and it has been repaired and rebuilt many times since. Some local accounts link its restoration to the great Hindu teacher Adi Shankaracharya. That connection, like much of the temple's early story, belongs to tradition rather than firm record.

Now look at the building itself. The base is made of stone and marble, raised on a platform so that you climb to reach it. A pillared entrance canopy opens onto a courtyard. Above the inner shrine rises the tall red spire, called a shikhara in Indian temple architecture. A shikhara is the tower above a sanctum, and it points upward like a mountain peak. The colour makes it easy to spot from the lanes below.

Watch for the hamsa, a swan or goose, on the temple's decoration. In Hindu art each god has an animal companion that carries them, called a vahana. Brahma's companion is the hamsa. You will find this bird carved and painted around the entrance. Small details like this tell you whose house you are in, even before you see the image of the god.

Here is the second surprise, and it lies under your feet. Look closely at the floor and the walls near the entrance. Silver coins are set into the marble. Many carry the names of the people who gave them. For generations, devotees have marked a birth, a wedding, or the memory of a loved one this way. Walking across the floor, you walk across hundreds of small family stories.

Inside the sanctum sits the image of Brahma. He has four faces, one looking in each direction. The four faces show a god who sees the whole of creation at once. Gayatri sits beside him. In front of the shrine, look for a silver turtle set into the floor, facing the god. The sanctum is small and the crowd moves quickly, so take a slow breath and look before you are carried along.

The temple cannot be separated from the lake below it. Pushkar Lake lies a few minutes' walk away, ringed by dozens of stone ghats. A ghat is a flight of steps leading down into sacred water. Legend has it that a lotus flower fell from Brahma's hand to the earth here, and water rose where it landed. Pilgrims bathe in the lake before or after their visit to the temple.

Once a year the quiet town fills with people. During the Hindu month of Kartik, usually in October or November, pilgrims gather for the full moon. The same season brings the Pushkar fair, famous for its camel trading on the sandy grounds outside town. In those weeks the temple steps are packed from early morning. On an ordinary day, the pace is gentler, and you can hear the bells clearly.

Pushkar is a holy town, and this shapes everything around you. Meat and alcohol are traditionally not allowed in the town. Leather items are not taken into the temple, and photography inside the sanctum is usually not permitted. The priests here follow an ascetic tradition, which means they have renounced ordinary family life. Treat the space as you would a home where a family is praying. Quiet respect is always welcome.

Before you walk back down the steps, stand still for a moment. Feel the marble and the silver coins under your feet. Listen to the bells and the soft prayers around you. Look up once more at the red spire, then out toward the hills where Savitri's temple sits. As you find your shoes and step into the lane, notice the smell of marigolds following you toward the lake.