Pushkar
Trip Start
Jul 25, 2006
1
94
165
Trip End
Ongoing
Pushkar,
India
Thursday, January 3, 2008
On one hand, it is the typical backpackers' paradise. Bookstores, music shops, Israeli restaurants, "ethnicized" clothing shops, and side talking drug dealers sit comfortably side by side with temples, sacred bathing ghats, camel trading festivals, and school children in matching uniforms.
One of the better known scams in Pushkar is the Pushkar passport. The lake is a sacred pilgrimage site, and many people travel here to bath, wash away bad karma, and pray. Brahmin priests abound throughout the streets. While some of these priests are legitimate, most are not. They prowl the streets, and greet any foreigner they see without a red thread bracelet with a "Nameste. Hello, my friend, where are you from?"
They then proceed to tell you that the lake in Pushkar is a special, sacred place. It is a source of pilgrimage to all religions (Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian - although they are not very clear why it is sacred to the latter two.) By coincidence, today, in fact this morning ending very soon, is a special time where it is particularly auspicious to have a blessing in the lake. All of your karma will be cleansed. And lo and behold, this gentleman, this priest (as he vigorously reminds you) would be honoured to take you to the lake and perform a puja for you.
I was well aware of this particular scam.
Pushkar 03
I was still feeling bad about the burning ghat photo debacle in Varanasi and decided that letting myself be taken advantage of by a bogus priest would help cleanse any remaining bad karma. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but you try sorting out all the in's and out's of the "ologys" and "isms" in India.Our "Brahmin", sporting a set of the worse, most nightmare inducing teeth I have ever seen, led us down to the lake. Danayi, shaking her head at me, followed. Once there, the priest made me squat next to him by the bright green coloured water. He sprinkled a few drops on my head, dotted my forehead with red powder and rice, and gave me a coconut to hold. Carefully cradling the coconut, he had me repeat a pray that blessed me, and took care of any bad karma. He then asked about family members. This is part of the scam; the priest recites a prayer for each member of your family he can wheedle out of you, each one going to the tally of the donation you will be asked for afterwards. Knowing this, my immediate family received a blessing (although I think I skipped James, sorry kid), but that's it. The same was repeated for Danayi (although I know for a fact HER family was much larger than she admitted). Finally, we got our precious little Pushkar passport, a ragged red string tied around our wrists that insured that no other Brahmins would bother us. Our karma was clean.
Afterwards, the explanation of wonderful blessing we had received and the pitch for the donation began. I had already decided I would give him two hundred rupees, and despite his protestations and pleas, that was what he received. Talking with other travelers, I discovered I had paid what was considered to be quite a lot for our little passports. I was fine with that, having planned on an allowed and informed fleecing, but was made to feel much better when I watched an episode of Lonely Planet Pilot Guides on Western India where the American female host offered 2000 rupees to her faux priest. (That's about $50 to my $5). Thank you Lonely Planet.
We enjoyed Pushkar. The people were friendly, it was special and tranquil around the lake, our hotel had a magnificent view of the ghats, and the only colour people cared about was the colour of our money.
