Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is located in the town of Pushkar near Ajmer city in Ajmer district of the Rajasthan state of western India. Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures describe it as "Tirtha-Guru" [Thirtha Raj]– the perceptor of pilgrimage sites related to a water-body and relate it to the mythology of the creator-god Brahma, whose most prominent temple stands in Pushkar. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC.
Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats (a series of steps leading to the lake), where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima (October–November) when the Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu temples are situated around the lake precincts.
Tourism and deforestation in the surroundings have taken a heavy toll on the lake, adversely affecting its water quality, reducing the water levels and destroying the fish population. As part of conservation measures, the government is undertaking de-silting, de-weeding, water treatment, and afforestation as well as mass awareness programme.
Geography
Pushkar Lake around which the Pushkar town has developed is in the Ajmer district in the state of Rajasthan, India amidst the Aravalli range of hills. The mountain range known as Nag Parbat ("snake mountain") separates the lake from the city of Ajmer. The valley is formed between the two parallel ranges of the Aravalli hills (in elevation range of running south-west to north-east. Situated at northwest from Ajmer, the artificial Pushkar Lake created by building a dam is surrounded by deserts and hills on all three sides. The lake is categorized as a "Sacred Lake" under the list of "Classification of Lakes in India".
The soil and topography in the catchment are predominantly sandy with very low water retention capacity. The land use pattern in the Pushkar valley that drains into the lake comprises 30% of the area under shifting sand dunes, 30% under hills (degraded and barren) and streams and 40% of the area is agricultural.
Climate
The region experiences semi-arid climatic conditions with dry and hot summers and cool winters. The summer months of May and June are the hottest, with a maximum temperature of around . During the winter months, the maximum mean temperature is in the range of . Rain mainly occurs during a short spell of two months during July and August. The recorded average rainfall is in the range of . Rainfall is also recorded some times during winter months of January and February.
From April to September, strong winds blowing in the southwest to northeast direction add to the formation of sand dunes.
Hydrology
The Pushkar Lake drains a catchment of the Aravalli hills covering an area of . The lake has a water surface area of . It is a perennial lake sourced by the monsoon rainfall over the catchment. The depth of water in the lake varies from season to season from . The total storage capacity of the lake is 0.79 million cubic metres (1.03 million cu yd). As the lake periphery is encircled by 52 ghats of various sizes, the surface water flow from the catchment into the lake is channeled through a series of arches under a footbridge, long at the southern end. The footbridge facilitates the parikrama (circumambulation) that is performed by pilgrims around the lake covering all the 52 ghats (covers an area of ).
Flora and fauna
Pushkar Lake, when full, is rich in fish and other aquatic life. The depth of the lake has substantially shrunk – to less than from a maximum of – resulting in the death of large fish weighing , caused due to the viscous water and the lack of oxygen for the fish to survive. Since the region where the lake and its valley is situated is arid, the flora and fauna recorded relate to desert plants, including cactus and thorny bushes, as well as desert animals like camels and cattle. Man-eating crocodiles used to be a menace in the Puskhar Lake, resulting in the deaths of people. Pilgrims were aware of this fact, yet many considered it lucky to be eaten by crocodiles. The crocodiles were caught with nets by the British and shifted to a nearby reservoir.
History
Pushkar Lake's history dates back to the 4th century BC. Numismatics, in the form of punched Greek and Kushan coins date the lake back to this time. 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.