The temple might just have stepped out of a fairy tale, with only a small portion in pink jutting out of an otherwise plain white chalk building. Inside is a shrine of Datta-traya, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Outside the temple, a little distance from its door is a huge brass bell, which stands sentinel overlooking the lush greenness of Mount Abu. A costume photographer displays dresses and invites tourists to pose with temple as a backdrop. Here the deity is not the traditional lingam but a pit into which Lord Shiva is said to have put his foot.
Legend has it that the spot goes deep into the earth until it touches water.
Outside this temple there is a statue of Goddess Parvati, and a large statue of Nandi, which still bears marks of destruction, wrought by invading armies. In the heart of the town, at one end of the Mall is Nakki Lake, which has an interesting history. The girl, a princess, and a daughter of the then King of Abu, was also in love with the sage, but because of the evil stepmother the affair ended in tragedy, and has been immortalized in a temple of the Kunwari Kanya, alongside which stands a statue of her lover. The lake too, has survived to tell the tale. Picturesquely set, with the hills rising all around it, the lake has several islets to which you can hire boats.