From Udaipur to Pushkar on horseback - Day Seven

Today we ‘only’ rode 35km, instead of the usual 50km, a half day in effect. We are camping in what feels the middle of nowhere. There are no houses, no passers by, just a giant temple and a bird feeding platform attracting thousands of birds, including green parrots and peacocks. A man goes regularly onto the platform where he empties large bags of grain donated by the villagers. The second he gets off all the birds fly down. 

We observed it for a while and there seems to be a hierarchy involved: if the peacocks come then most of the other birds fly off. Once the peacocks are off the parrots fly back in, followed by the pigeons, the doves and finally the crows. I would have thought crows were more bullies than that but as usual appearances can be deceiving. When one category of bird flies off, thousand of them, it creates a sound in the sky as though the wind suddenly started even though there was no wind at all. At night, everything stops and it is dead silent, except for the temple of course. 

putting the grain out

parrots waiting for their turn

The temple in itself is impressive. Based on a structure close to 1,000 year old it has many new parts, including a viewing platform from which you can see the whole area for miles. Near the main praying area there is a giant beehive. It is actually located just on top of the musical machine. We were all amazed that the machine doesn’t make the bees panic. I guess they are considered holy in some ways. 

the bee hive

the music machine

yours truly posing at the temple

We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon off, snoozing outside the tent and drinking plenty of masala chai. 

our camping spot from above

boys hanging around at the temple

don't they look handsome in their traditional attire?

(it doesn't look like it but they were delighted to get their photo taken)