Brahma Temple, Pushkar

This temple at Pushkar, about 15 km from Ajmer, is one of the very few in the world dedicated to Brahma, the creator in the Hindu trinity, and is regarded as the oldest of them. It dates from around the 14th century and is built of marble and stone slabs, with a red shikhara and the hamsa, or swan, carved as a motif. Pilgrims arrive all year, often bathing first in Pushkar Lake, a dip believed to wash away past wrongs.

Legend says Brahma killed the demon Vajranabha with a lotus, and its fallen petals formed the lake. When he came to hold a yagna on its shore, his wife Savitri was missing, so he took a local girl as his bride for the rite. Savitri cursed him never to be worshipped; later she softened and let him be honoured only at the spot of that yagna, which is the site of the present temple.