scams — Blog — Jo Teasdale FRPS

Pushkar, a town bordering the Thar Desert was our next destination. It is set on the very beautiful Pushkar Lake, a sacred Hindu site with 52 Ghats. Since we hadn’t seen any Ghats at Varanasi, we were looking forward to the prospect of these.

We had been forewarned about the ‘Pushkar Passport’, so we were ready with our own passports bought in Shadipur. The passport is the blessing bracelet made of red and gold thread. It shows you have been blessed and paid your donation. By wearing it you are left alone by the temple touts. It transpires that many of the priests here are not genuine, the Pooja - blessing for your fore-fathers is free but then you’re asked for a donation - the cost can be ludicrously high, depending on where you come from. They even accept all major credit cards. It has led to some very unsavoury bullying behaviour. No point in calling the police when it turns nasty because they are in on the scam too. The main Ghats are cordoned and policed by holy men all working to get the donation. Only a couple of Ghats are freely open to walk on in peace. Surrounding the lake are tired, tatty dirty shops all targeted for the tourist market.

The problem with this town lies with the religious people because they do nothing to stop this corruption. Infact, they encourage it, because they earn a good wage from it. The knock-on effect is that it’s killing the trade in the town. It drives people away from spending their money and keeps the quality of the goods sold here really low.

It was only a matter of days before we felt very disillusioned by Pushkar. Its phoney rules painted on holy walls, phoney people and phoney priests. The centre is a fake tourist trap in beautiful surroundings that you’re prevented from enjoying in peace.

So what did I like about Pushkar?

The real life in the periphery of town and the abundance of cows and dogs. More cows than you could ever imagine, roaming freely round the town, in and out of shops and hanging out in the middle of major highways and blocking tiny alleys, not giving two hoots about anyone or anything - except for their chapatis. Roads can become gridlocked just because of a cow. The barber shops are a joy and I’m getting quite a collection of images from each town we visit.

Pushkar Puddle. We brought rain to Pushkar

Our faith in Pushkar as a whole was restored by a jeep ride into the Thar desert and the surrounding villages - this is the future for Pushkar if it is to turn it’s economy around, investing in the future and not just for today. It is stunning.

The north part of Varanasi Town has a completely different feel to the holier south: narrower lanes, more businesses, markets and a great deal more noisy traffic. It is here the mighty Golden Temple is situated. However, It had just been decided that people are no longer allowed inside the Temple, but the officials will still take your money and let you know after that you can go no further, but still get your blessing, without going into the shrine. Something’s not quite right there.

We then found that from the Golden Temple all the way down to the River Ganges the ancient houses have been demolished revealing over 160 temples and shrines that haven’t been seen for centuries. This ambitious plan to pedestrianise this area may well help to regenerate it and save it in the long run, similar to the building plans in Old Delhi high street. Only time will tell, it would be a sight to behold.

Revealed - a tiny pink temple that had been hidden for hundreds and hundreds of years.

During our stay, It also happened to be the Festival of Ancestors, where people remember those who have passed on. Down by the Ghats, mostly underwater at this moment in time, men shave their heads and faces, bathe in the Ganges, and offer food to the sacred cows, in remembrance and respect to their deceased family.

There are two burning Ghats here in Varanasi - Manikarnika Ghat (major) and the less intimidating Harish Chandra Ghat (minor). It was the minor one that we were scammed with the ‘Burning is Learning. Cremation Education’ scam. It was all there in the guide book, we had failed to read it!

We were convinced by a guy that he was a Holy Undertaker, who insisted we went to his house and learn about the burning ceremony. He wanted no money, just our time to be educated and gain a deeper understanding of the Hindu ceremony. We were taken through the smoke filled houses, up the smoke filled steps and alleys and found ourselves on the roof overlooking the burning ghat. It was like nothing we had seen before and yes it was interesting and we saw a great deal. BUT this guy was no holy man, nor was he an undertaker. Money was his sole purpose and these people can get pretty forceful about it. We beat a hasty retreat.

During our visits to town we constantly heard the ringing of bells, announcing the procession of a group of male mourners shuffling by carrying a body covered in garlands of flowers on a bamboo stretcher and chanting to their God to accept the deceased on its journey to Nirvana. The frequency was strange, glimpses of bright orange material sweeping past…

The Burning Ghats don’t stop, they burn 24hours a day.

‘God Made Man-Barber. Make Gentleman’. The Royal AC Saloon and Massage Centre slogan

'Burning is Learning. Cremation is Education'. - Touts tag-line.

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