Pushkar Lake – History

Pushkar Lake – History

The Pushkar Lake finds mention on punched Greek and Kushan coins as early as the 4^th century BC. The inscriptions found at Sanchi attest to the lake's existence to the 2nd Century BC. This suggests that Pushkar was a pilgrimage centre even if it did not lie on the trade route. Chinese traveler Fa Xian in the fifth century AD made reference to the number of visitors to Pushkar Lake. The creation of Pushkar Lake, as an artificial lake, is also credited to the 12^th century when a dam was built across the headwaters of the Luni River. The 10^th Sikh guru, Guru Govind Singh (1666 – 1708), is said to have recited the Sikh sacred text Guru Granth Sahib on the banks of the lake.

During the Mughal rule, there was a short break in the lake's importance due to the levy of a pilgrim tax and a ban on religious processions. In 1615 – 16, the Mughal emperor Jahangir (1569–1627) built his hunting lodge (seen now in total ruins) on the shores of the Pushkar Lake to celebrate his victory over the local Rajput Rana (king). He came to this lodge 16 times for hunting during his stay in Ajmer, about 15 Kms from Pushkar. This act violated the local tradition of not killing any animals in the precincts of the sacred lake. He also committed an idolatrous act by breaking the image of Varaha – the boar Avatar of the god Vishnu, as it resembled a pig and symbolically hurt Islamic sensitivity.

Thereafter, Jahangir's grandson emperor Aurangzeb (1618 – 1707) destroyed and desecrated several temples, which were later rebuilt. However, during the rule of Jahangir's father, Emperor Akbar (1542–1605), there was a revival of not only the lake but also the Ajmer's Dargah dedicated to Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, of whom Akbar was a devout follower. The Rajput rulers of Amber, Bundi, Bikaner and Jaisalmer made great efforts to restore the importance of the lake and its surrounding temples.

Credits given for modern additions to the building of Ghats and the renovation / construction of temples go to Maharaja Man Singh I of Amber for the Raj Ghat and Man temple; Maha Rana Pratap for the Varaha temple; Daulat Rao Scindia for Kot Tirth Ghat, the Marathas-Anaji Scindia to the Koteshwar Mahadev temple and Govind Rao, the Maratha governor of Ajmer for Shiva Ghat; to the British rule for combining the religious pilgrimage with a cattle fair to generate taxes for improving the lake and its surroundings; and gifting of the Jaipur Ghat and the Main Palace on the ghat in 1956 by the Maharaja of Jaipur.

The natural environment of Pushkar Lake and its precincts has become increasingly degraded in the last few decades. The problems arise primarily from the over development of tourist facilities as well as the deforestation of the surrounding area. To supplement water supply to the lake, even as early as in 1993, the government built 12 deep tube wells to supplement water supply to the lake. However, most tube wells were dysfunctional, thereby aggravating the problem.

The Union Ministry for Environment and Forests included Pushkar Lake on a list of five lakes under the National Lake Conservation Project (NLCP) for restoration. They have been providing funds since 2008 for the restoration works, but the situation has not eased.  In recent years, storage in the Pushkar Lake has been reduced alarmingly, leaving only a small puddle of water in many years during the festival season when pilgrims flock to the lake for sacred bathing during the Hindu holy month of Kartik, when the Pushkar Fair is held. During the 2009 Pushkar fair, the situation became very grim when the lake dried up entirely.

Alternate arrangements were made to facilitate sacred bathing by providing water in concrete tanks near one of the upper Ghats, fed by tube wells from groundwater sources. While the authorities have been blamed for poor planning by de-silting the lake, the drought situation has resulted in insignificant rainfall in the area to fill the lake. International Business Times has identified Pushkar as one of the ten most religious places in the world and one of the five sacred pilgrimage places for the Hindus, in India.