The Brahma Temple Pushkar

 

Brahma Temple Pushkar is a rare religious site that is dedicated to the lord of creation, Lord Brahma. The reason behind it being rare is that the temple is amongst the very few existing temples of Lord Brahma in India. Known as the Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, this Hindu temple has its address in the Pushkar town of Rajasthan.

Days of construction of this temple dates back to the 14th century. However, Indian Mythology believes the origin of this temple took place 2000 years back in the history. Located close to the sacred Pushkar Lake, the temple is a highly prominent tourist attraction; with large flock of tourists visiting it especially on the auspicious occasion of Kartik Poornima.

History
As per the sacred scripture of Hindu religion; Padma Purana, Lord Brahma once came across a demon named Vajranabha, killing and torturing people. Seeing such atrocity, the Lord slayed the demon with lotus flower (his special weapon). While doing so, some petals from the lotus flower fell at three places on the ground. This resulted into the creation of three sacred lakes, which in today’s times are known as the Jyestha Pushkar, the Madhya Pushkar and Kanishta Pushkar.

Later on, when the lord made his visit to earth, he started with the preparations of a yajna (fire sacrifice) at the Jyestha Pushkar Lake. In order to perform the yajna undisturbed by the demons, Lord Brahma created a chain of hills around. However, his wife Savitri was not available for the Yajna, which was disruptive of the proceedings.

On this, Lord Brahma requested Lord Indra to send him a suitable consort to complete the Yajna. When a Gujar’s daughter, named Gayatri was finally sent to take the seat next to Brahma as his wife, Savitri arrived. Feeling agitated, she cursed Brahma that the Lord would never be worshipped by anyone. She later on permitted his worship only in Pushkar. This entitled Brahma temple in Pushkar as the most prominent place to worship the lord.

Architecture of the temple
The famous Brahma temple in Pushkar is an altogether marble structure and sports a Southern style of temple architecture. Built on a raised platform, the temple’s entrance which is decorated of pillared canopies, has to be reached through marble steps.

After making the entrance, comes the pillared outdoor hall also known as Mandapa. Situated further to the Mandapa is the sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagriha). At the central position of the Garbhagriha, lies the statue of Lord Brahma seated in a cross legged position. The interiors of the Pushkar Brahma temple also contain the images of the Lord of Preservation (Vishnu), glided Garuda (eagle man) and Dvarapalas (gate-keepers)

From the outside, the structure flaunts a red colored spire (shikara) on the mount of the temple. Along with this is the symbol of a Hamsa (goose or swan) to add to the beauty of its exteriors.