According to Hindu mythology, Lord Brahma (the Creator in the trinity of gods) wanted to perform a yagna (holy ritual). To decide the most auspicious place, a swan was released into the air with a lotus flower in its beak. The bird dropped the flower in Pushkar and Brahma performed the yagna at the Pushkar lake on Kartik Purnima (full moon day in November); thus making it a sacred spot.

Today, the village features the only Brahma temple in the world. India is famous for Tirths (places of pilgrimage) and Pushkar heads the five important Tirths in the country it is called Tirthraj (the king of religious places).

Legends also have it that the charm of this sleepy, lakeside settlement so captivated the great Indian poet, Kalidas that it found a place in his classic Abhigyan Sakuntalam.