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Fairs & Festivals Rajasthan |
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Nagaur Fair, Nagaur
Desert Festival, Jaisalmer
Baneshwar Fair, Baneshwar
Gangaur, Jaipur
Mewar Festival, Udaipur
Elephant Festival,
Jaipur
Urs Ajmer Sharif, Ajmer
Summer Festival Mt. Abu
Teej, Jaipur
Marwar Festival,
Jodhpur
Pushkar Fair, Ajmer
Camel Festival, Bikaner
Kite Festival
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R a j a s t h a n
F a i r s & F e s t i v a l s
Pushkar Fair
 Every November, the sleepy little township of
Pushkar in Rajasthan, India comes alive with a riot of colors and a
frenzied burst of activity. The occasion: PUSHKAR FAIR. Very
few, if at all any, fairs in the world can match the liveliness of Pushkar.
Most people associate the Pushkar Fair with the world's largest camel
fair. But it is much more than that.
It is an occasion for villagers from far and
near to gather together and enjoy a welcome break from their harsh life of
the arid desert. And enjoy they do! In dazzling style and colors.
It is an occasion for Hindu pilgrims to
converge for a holy dip in the sacred Pushkar Lake to "wash away the sins
of a lifetime" and pay obeisance at the ONLY Brahma temple in the world.
For the visitor, it is an unparalleled and
unforgettable experience to capture the vibrancy of the entire state
of Rajasthan in one place. This website by attempts to give you a
glimpse of the magic of Pushkar. Of course, you have to truly
understand it.
About the Fair
In the month of Kartik each year, a staggering number of camels travel
their way across the golden sands of Rajasthan to collect at Pushkar for
the week-long fair devoted to them. Coming in from all directions, their
masters astride them, they flick the sand at every step with casual ease.
The horses that march to this site find the sand-trot a touch exercise.
Numerous cows and sheep also come to the animal fair. Completing the scene
thousands of men, women and children, come with their beasts, suddenly
inhabiting the barren plain with the camel providing the backdrop.
The contrast to the dull desert landscape is the riot of colours - the
large gaudy turbans of the native males arriving here to trade their
animals or set up the stalls to cater to the booming captive market, and
the loud hues of the pleated ghagaras (ankle-length skirts) of the women
bangled by the armful, bejewelled from head to toe- adding charm and zest
to the massive affair.
At Mela time, Pushkar is Rajasthan under one roof, a complete
exhibition of its culture.
The trading:
Over the first five days of the fair, camels, horses, cows, goats,
and sheep are sold and purchased. There may be long-drawn negotiations, or
sometimes, a quick transaction. Hard bargains are struck, the vendor
praising the long list of virtues of his camel to the prospective buyer.
Fashionable Women…
Womenfolk seem to have little interest in the business of animals. They
are more attracted to the glittering wares in the stalls under canopies.
The large variety of intricate silver ornaments - hairpins and chains,
nose rings and neckbands, waistbands, anklets, toe rings and the ivory
bangles worn from wrist to shoulder - would send any woman on a buying
spree.
The garments stalls, in no way less colourful, sell high fashion upper
garments of patchwork and tie 'n' die. Tattoo stalls give many women
beauty marks that last a lifetime. Whoever said that the unsophisticated
are not fashionable!
…and Camels:
In Rajasthan even the camels are fashion-conscious, and that too to a high
degree, for they are soon to be part of a beauty parade! The proud owner
of a newly acquired camel promptly goes to the stalls which the women
bypassed.
At these stalls all the crafts of Rajasthan have been pressed into the
service of the camel community. Handmade saddles to fit every hump; long
strings of cowries, beads; colourful, woven saddle-straps, and
embroidered back-covers to boot. After a shearing and a scrub, the camel
is costumed and even perfumed! Surely the Rajasthani man loves his
camel-and his wife!
Fun and frolic:
As the tempo of business goes down, the men folk turn to merriment, for
the day of the camel sports is at hand. Camel races are the first
event. Usually a lumbering beast of burden, the camel all decorated in
finery, imagines itself to be an ostrich, and rushes through the race like
one. Then comes the event analogous to musical chairs. Here, as the
music stops, the camel is supposed to manage to stick its long arching
neck between two poles, each camel owner guiding its entrant by means of a
silken cord attached to its nose ring.
Vying for the first pace in the beauty contest, splendidly bedecked
camels are bought to the ring and paraded to catch the critical eye of
keen judges. The gait of the camel, the choice of its equipment and
ornament, its capacity to interpret and carry out commands and the variety
of pranks it is capable of performing are the criteria of selection. The
most thrilling camel event is 'laadoo oonth'. see how much weight
the camel can can carry, man after man clamber onto the ridge-like back of
the camel, each clutching at the other to retain the collectively
precarious position. It is not an uncommon sight to see the human cargo
come crashing down as the camel tries to get to its feet! It is yest to be
known if this is the intention of the camel.
The culmination
:
Kartik Purnima, the day of ritual oblation , is also the closing day of
the world's most colourful festivals. Bathing begins at dawn.
There is quite a scramble for getting a place on the bathing ghats. The
famed waters of the Pushkar Lake wash away the sins of a lifetime. The
mystical water is also believed to cure skin diseases, making Pushkar the
Lourdes of the east. After bathing, the devotees line up in long colourful
queues to take their turn to worship the Creator, Brahma.
Romance touches Pushkar on the full moon night, as tiny leaf boats, each
carrying flowers and an oil lamp, are set afloat on the placid lake.
Twinkling like thousands of stars, their flickering flames reflected in
the water. The next day dawns for the exodus. Long caravans hump their way
along, taking many camels to their new homes. Little does a camel know
which master it will serve after the coming Pushkar Fair.
Click
To These
Festival Tour Packages
of
Rajasthan
[1]
Mewar Festival Rajasthan
Duration :
14 Nights & 15 Days
Destination Covered :
Delhi, Mandawa,
Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Ajmer, Delhi.
[2]
Camel Fair Pushkar
Duration : 20 Nights & 21 Days
Destination Covered
:
Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Pushkar, Ranthambore, Kota,
Bundi, Chittaurgarh, Bijaipur, Udaipur, Khumbalgarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer,
Bikaner, Mandawa, Delhi.
[3]
Desert Fair Jaisalmer
Duration :14 Nights & 15 Days
Destination Covered :
Delhi, Mandawa, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur,
Pushkar, Ajmer, Delhi.
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