“All year one sensed a hidden tension, all year something was going on in preparation for those days, as if the ultimate purpose of the year was to home in on those three days.”
Avant Garde filmmaker Kamal Swaroop explores the ancient myths and politicking of Indian Gods as the heavens descend and the water in the lake turns holy.
Twenty-nine kilometers from Ajmer, surrounded by the Aravalli hills, in the heart of the Thar Desert is a lake city called Pushkar. To the Hindus of the world, it is second in holiness only to Mansarovar. During the full moon in the month of Kartik, the town and the nearby dunes become an enormous fairground. Thousands of villagers bring cattle, camels and horses to trade. Folk artists, musicians, Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds appear like a mirage in the desert, only to vanish with the decapitation of Brahmā’s fifth head.
