The Pushkar Fair [November 07th to 13th 2008]

For anyone interested in fairs and festivals with a local and indigenous flavour, the Pushkar fair is a must see. Held each year in Pushkar, a small lakeside village in the north western corner of India, right at the edge of the Thar Desert, this is one of the biggest livestock melas of its kind in the world.

Easily identified as the largest camel and cattle fair in the world, the pushkar mela becomes home to over 50,000 people and animals that converge here in a week filled with celebrations, festivities, sales and sports.

Celebrated in the month of November or Karthik as per the Hindu calendar, the fair becomes the site for people to decorate, race, buy and sell camels, donkeys, horses, bulls, and other cattle, to participate and cheer in camel races and sports, to leave behind their worries and to revel in the colour and vibrancy of the rural splendor of Rajasthan. The atmosphere takes on a different persona as colorful turbans, swirling skirts, clinking bangles and bejeweled cattle mix in the bustling crowds.

Tattooing is a popular activity here and it is not uncommon to see the rural folk of Rajasthan break into their traditional songs and dance as the evening wears on. Each evening as the sun sets across the desert, pushkar takes on a different hue, transforming itself into an island of song, dance, crafts and customs. What sets the celebrations apart is also the fact that they occur within a wider context of sanctity, since pushkar is also the only place to have a temple dedicated to Lord Brahma., creator of the 3 worlds. People gather from all over to take a dip in the holy lake at Pushkar on the full moon night in the month of Karthik to wash away their sins, and the occasion is made all the more spectacular by the fair that coincides with this auspicious date.

Those who visit Pushkar have a plethora of souvenirs to take back with them. These range from embroidered items, ethnic jewellary, leatherwear, brassware, traditional Rajasthani miniature paintings, pottery and puppets. In addition women find even greater opportunities to bedeck themselves as the fair offers innumerable options in bangles, beads, clothes and accessories. The Sarafa Bazaar and the Bada Bazaar are two of the main shopping areas in the township.

One of the most popular aspects of the Pushkar fair is the camel safari that allows visitors to experience the wonders of the undulating sands of the desert sitting atop a camel. At night one sleeps under a starlit sky, surrounded by the barren yet mesmerizing magic of the Thar. In fact, for those who visit pushkar, the camel safari is an integral and unmissable part of the experience.

From revelry to religion, from the camel back to the lakeside, from the shopping to the racing, the Pushkar fair is an unforgettable opportunity to create and collect memories and moments that will last for a lifetime.