Pushkar Lake
A sacred lake ringed by bathing ghats, the reason the town exists and the focus of its Kartik Purnima pilgrimage.
The water the town is built around
Pushkar is a lake with a town on its edge rather than a town with a lake in it. The water is sacred, the shore is lined with bathing ghats, and the Brahma temple's origin is tied to the lake rather than the other way round. At Kartik Purnima, the full moon of the month of Kartik in October or November, thousands of pilgrims come to bathe, and the camel fair the town is known to outsiders for happens in the same season. For the rest of the year the ghats are quieter and the lake does what it has always done, which is give the place its reason.
Explore Pushkar Lake on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What there is to see
The shore, and the town behind it.
🪜 The ghats
- Bathing steps ring the water, each with its own name and its own attendant customs
🌅 The light
- Dawn and dusk are when the ghats are used and when they are worth being at
🛕 The temples on the rim
- The shoreline carries shrines; the Brahma temple stands a short walk back from the water
Getting there
The lake is the centre of the town.
🚶 On foot
- Everything in Pushkar is within walking distance of the water
When to go
Two entirely different experiences depending on the date.
🌕 Kartik Purnima
- The great bathing day, and the town at maximum density
🌤️ Ordinary days
- Cooler months, early and late in the day, for a quiet shore
Before you go
A religious site, not a waterfront.
🙏 Etiquette
- Footwear comes off at the ghats
- Bathing is worship here; photography of people at the ghats is asked for, not assumed
Close by
The temple the lake is bound to.
Frequently asked
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