The hard way to learn

The charter morning

We woke up to our first morning in the immensely decorated hotel ‘Jagat Palace’ on the outskirts of Pushkar. First thing was to turn on the fan and open up the terrace doors, for a view of the palm trees and singing birds. After taking a nice hot shower in the bath tub, we went down to get some breakfast. Breakfast in India is different from the one we know from home, here they serve warm potato soup with chapati, a round bread that has been deep fried. Though we are used to cold cereal at home, the warm dinner-like breakfast is too overcome. The breakfast had to be enjoyed quickly cause we had to meet at the reception at 9 am, in order to visit three of the many temples Pushkar have to offer.

Invited inside Pushkar’s rich diverse religious life

After our morning breakfast our class assembled for a spiritual pilgrimage walk around town. Our first stop was a Sikh Temple. To get in we had to get rid of shoes and socks, and also wash our feet in water, lastly, we had to wear bandanas to cover our hair. Touching our wet feet to the cold white marble gave a sense of humility. Inside the temple we were greeted by the priest, sitting inside a dark room. In the middle of the room were a shrine. The Sikh priest told us we had to walk around the shrine clockwise, you could only get one round and you could make no noise at all. When we went outside, we got to socialize with the Sikh priests. We also got a nice photo with them. One of the important rules Sikhs have to follow, is wearing a turban and to let their hair grow.

Pushkar’s heart

After visiting the Sikh temple at the start of the city, we walked through the still sleeping city. We were heading for our second stop: Pushkar’s famous Brahma temple. This is the temple the city revolves around, positioned in the heart of Pushkar the Brahma temple is a one of a kind. This temple is the only temple too worship the god Brahma. Even though Brahma is one of the three main gods of Hinduism, you aren’t allowed to dedicate temples to him, but the Brahma temple in Pushkar is so old it was made before that rule was laid out. On our way to the temple we saw a lot of the old priest caste ‘Brahmins’. The Brahmins were wearing their orange coats and coming to worship one of the holiest places in Hinduism. At the temple we again had to remove our shoes before entering. In the temple we could walk around looking at all the different shrines dedicated to different gods and deities. Before every shrine there are hanging one or multiple bells, so you can call upon the gods before praying. In the middle of the temple was the shrine for the God Brahma, with the brahmins taking donations and prayers behind the alter. All around the temple was written down in white marble with black ink names of family members who have passed away.

Heading for the top

The last stop on our short relaxing day was the Savitri temple on top of a steep hill with the shape of a pyramid. What we were expecting to be an easy and relaxing walk, quickly turned into a hard mountain climb up giant steps, where you both had to fight the heat, sweat and monkeys. The long staircase leading the way to the top of the hill made sure we got a catch up on all the workout we have been missing out on in India. There were three things that struck us the most while climbing the steep mountain. Firstly, the amazing view over Pushkar with its beautiful lake and the surrounding mountains. Secondly the diverse wildlife of big monkey families have a tendency to get a bit angry, the big majestic camels waiting at the bottom of the mountains and the cows deciding to join your pilgrimage to the Hindu temple at the top. And lastly being able to put everything you have learned into perspective and figuring it out while overlooking the vast land of Rajasthan atop the mountain. Being at our sweaty best we took a group photo atop Pushkar.

Summary of today’s experience

Today’s trip reminded us of the cultural importance of religion in this sacred city. All the things we have experienced has helped us to better understand what we learned at school home in Denmark and vice versa.