“Travelling with Parents” series : Destinations 2 & 3 of 6 – Ajmer and Pushkar

We started at about 9:30 AM from Jaipur towards Ajmer. It took us about 2:30 hours to reach our destination. Our day started with a filling our tummies with Kadhi- kachori, a local delicacy from a sweet corner.

We then proceeded towards our first destination of the day : The world reknowned Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. After parking our vehicle at the designated spots, we had to walk for about a kilometre to reach the dargah. The road was jampacked with shops, peddlers, vendors selling hoards of things. It is an entirely different experience visiting a dargah. Regardless of the way in which one worships, all these places are a reminder that faith is above all. One can see the strong belief in the super power, regardless of religion. After paying our respects, we came out at about 3 PM. It is advised not to carry any expensive belongings here due to heavy rush.

We passed via the Anasagar lake and revelled in its beauty for some time and then headed straightaway to Pushkar.

This is said to be the only temple where Lord Brahma is revered. After darshan, one can choose to go to Savitri Mata temple but we wanted to sink in the Pushkar environment and proceeded to the m ain market. On the way, we gorged upon delicious malpua and samosa. This was one of the best malpua, we had ever had.

Now here is where the fun starts. On the face, Pushkar looks like just another religious destination. In reality, Pushkar is a place hounded by a lot of foreign nationals. Pushkar has access to a lot of weed and has better weather, which makes it ideal for tourists to visit. One can draw parallels between Kasol and Pushkar in this regard. As a result of this confluence, you will see a hip shopping market with global artists and designs. The place is beaming with multi national cuisine restaurants, running on trance and psychedelic music. This is one place, i would definitely want to come back and spend some time.

We then headed to Bajrang garh Hanuman temple, which is considered holy and wish fulfilling temple in Ajmer. One has to climb over 100 steps to reach the base of the temple. There is something very divine about the idol, that makes you crave for more time with the deity. After spending some peaceful time, we descended to the base. Post dinner at a nearby restaurant, we retired for some rest.

Next day, we started at about 11 Am for our next destination – Udaipur. On the way to Udaipur, we had planned to visit Nathdwara- the famous temple of Srinathji. We touched Nathdwara at about the 4:00 PM. We took a rickshaw to drop us near temple compound. We were able to do the darshan in about an hour. On our return, we laid our hands on some brilliant pieces of artisanship. Pudine ki Chai and Mirchi Pakoda is a must try.

After darshan, we directly headed to Udaipur city and reached about 7:30 PM and eagerly waited for next destination to unfold.