I am not sure whether to say Namaste or Salaam...

We are in Pushkar, it is a very holy place for Hindus. There is a lake here which has 52 ghats (platforms for bathing down by the waters edge) leading down to it's side. Legend has it that the lake was created when Lord Brahma (he is the creator of the world in Hindu mythology) dropped a lotus flower whilst contemplating a suitable place to perform a fire sacrifice (Yagna), where the flower landed, the lake was thus created when water started sprouting from the spot. There was some disagreement between Brahma and his wife here (he invited her to the ceremony and she did not come so he.....married someone else!!!!) and in retribution for his behaviour she said that he would not be worshipped anywhere else other than Pushkar. As a result of this, Pushkar is meant to have the only Brahma temple throughout the country and even the world - although apparently this is not entirely truthful, we certainly have not seen any on our travels. Hence it is a very special pilgrimage site, especially for followers of the Lord Brahma, bathing in the lake or performing Pooja here is very significant. The town is incredibly excited at the moment in anticipation of the Hindu festival of Holi, as I type I can here chanting and the dinging of small bells, there is drumming outside and cheering. All day we have heard drumming and trumpeting throughout the town, we walked up to the temple on a hill and could here the chatter from the streets below (there is very little traffic here). People have been buying coloured powder and flowers in preparations for the forthcoming event. Holi is the spring festival, it takes place over two days. Tonight there will be the lighting of bonfires to mark the sacrifice of Holika (the kings sister) as a result of the defiance of Prahlad in worshipping his father (the same king) as a god but instead remaining as a devotee to Vishnu. Tomorrow people will go around throwing coloured powder over each other. We have been advised to cover ourselves in oil from head to toe so that we are not stained for the next fortnight, apparently this stuff does not wash off. We have also been informed to be vigilant and to stick together because the celebrations can get very rowdy.

Yesterday we received our Pushkar passport. This is a scam by "holy men" who will give you flowers to take to the lake to perform pooja. They will accompany you, befriend you, help you to pray for good karma for your friends and family, then will ask you how much they are worth in rupees. Anything less than 500 rupees for each person is not enough for good karma apparently. What a scam! They were professionals, they separated K and I and sucked us in. K had it sussed quite quickly and questioned the man about where the money was going, that you could not place any money on her families happiness etc, my guard was down but as soon as the demand for money came into it I was pretty hacked off and wanting to bail. The so called Brahmin was trying to get at least 500 rupees from me and wanted me to give money to his accomplice. Anyway, K and I decided to put 20 rupees each in the locked donation box much to the disappointment of our perpetrators - our own little retribution. We have been tempted to go back and push them\m in the lake... Anyway we have our string on our wrist now which is a passport to show other con men to leave us alone :-) I felt terrible after the experience, I hate the manipulation of people here for money, the more money that you give the more devout you are... There is no monetary value that can be placed on spirituality it should not be a commodity.

This leads me onto Ajmer hence the Salaam.... TBC.

Thanks for reading!