Hindu women prepare to bath in the holy lake of Pushkar. The lake is also known as Tirtha Raj (“the king of water pilgrimage sites), and is related to the mythology of the creator-god Brahma. The lake is surrounded by 500 temples and 52 bathing ghats, where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around the annual Kartik Purnima festival. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases.
Pushkar, Rajasthan, India, 2005