Being one of the only Brahma temples around the world is very intriguing as it is, but that is not all that is unique to this temple! The whole story that led to Brahma – one of the three main deities of Hinduism, not being worshiped in the world also has its roots in Pushkar!

As the story goes, Brahma was doing a big pooja at the Pushkar lake to protect the world from all that is unrighteous and such…. At a crucial juncture of this pooja he needed his consort, but sadly Savitri could not be present there. So he married another Gurjar girl, Gayatri. Gurjars were the rulers of the Rajasthan & Gujarat areas in the ancient times. Gayatri played the role and the pooja was completed.
Savitri arrived on the scene and she let all hell lose…… She cursed Brahma that he would not be worshiped anywhere in the world and also some of the other Gods who were present there to help with the Pooja. Later she cooled off a bit as all us feminine deities do… and she said Brahma may be worshiped in a few places like Pushkar.

So as you visit the Brahma temple do notice the little idol of Gayatri besides Brahma the 4 faced!

This temple is an ancient one, maybe as old as 2,000 years! In terms of structure it does look like the older ones in many ways… but it was a bit too cluttered for me.

Couldn’t Meditate 🙁

Firstly, the biggest sacrilege to me was that every single marble in the sanctum sanctorum had the donors name inscribed on it. It is just so weird… everywhere you look names – many in capitals, addresses, obituaries and what not! I think this is a north Indian trend, as I saw many such temples in Himachal Pradesh as well… but I just thought that the ambiance of this rare Brahma Temple would have been better maintained.

Further marring the ambiance was just so much clutter around the temple – all around there was stuff. Small little lingas or idols of other deities. Despite there being structural space, there was just no space for me to just sit there for a while. This is surprising for me, because one of the things I have noticed in ancient temples is that they have huge verandahs where one can just sit and meditate.

Maybe I take the temple ambiance a bit more personally, because I have spent quite some time volunteering at another temple.

Pushkar is a hotspot for locals

Secondly, since I went in complete off-season which is a topic for a whole another blog post, I expected the temple to be somewhat emptier and relaxed. It was not so. Hitherto, I had not realized how big a religious center Pushkar is. The influx of locals every day made me realize that it is a very eminent spot.

I also went to see the gaushalas or cow sheds, which are quite interestingly called “Brahmas cows”. Reminded me of “Apollos Horses” in Percy Jackson books…. So these Brahmas cow sheds were not that well maintained. I couldn’t see the cows themselves as they were out….

I did manage to sit and meditate for a while… the meditation had a very interesting flavour to it. So I felt the place was something different and maybe powerful.

All Said And Done

The Brahma temple had a profound effect on me. My normal psyche is naturally influenced by the Hindu culture, which gives all importance to Vishnu & Shiva. Brahma despite being the creator gets relegated to the side always… because there is no worshiping or temple culture or sects for him. Yet, Brahma is as much a part of the Trinity as the other two. Being at this temple, this ‘Brahma spot’ strengthened the presence of Brahma in my mind and psyche and that was profound.

kinda filled, busy all the time. Flickr Credit: guy_incognito