The Pushkar Camel Fair is a fascinating spectacle that occurs once a year. It is a visitor’s finest opportunity to experience rural India in its organic form; you can interact with villagers that have never seen a tourist in their lives and have traveled for weeks to bring their cattle to the fair.
The Fair is scheduled between late October and November (determined by the Lunar calendar), and villagers bring over 100,000 cattle (including 50,000 camels) to trade & sell. It also includes a plethora of activities such as horse shows, camel races, camel and cow beauty contests, acrobatics, camel safaris and much more.
Pushkar fair is one of the world's largest camel fairs, and apart from buying and selling of livestock it has become an important tourist attraction and its highlights have become competitions such as the "matka phod", "longest moustache", and "bridal competition" are the main draws for this fair which attracts thousands of tourists.
In recent years the fair has also included an exhibition cricket match between the local Pushkar club and a team of random foreign tourists. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, mentions an attendance of 100,000 pilgrims in early 1900s
Thousands of people go to the banks of the Pushkar Lake where the fair takes place. Men buy and sell their livestock, which includes camels, cows, sheep and goats. The women go to the stalls, full of bracelets, clothes, textiles and fabrics. A camel race starts off the festival, with music, songs and exhibitions to follow. Between these events, the most waited for is the test of how the camel is able to bring the items. In order to demonstrate, the men go up on the group of camels one after another.
Animals, especially camels, are brought from miles around. Trading is brisk as several thousand heads of cattle exchange hands. All the camels are cleaned, washed, adorned, some are interestingly shorn to form patterns, and special stalls are set up selling finery and jewellery for the camels. Camels at the Pushkar fair are decorated with great care. They wear jewellery of silver and beads. There are silver bells and bangles around their ankles that jingle-jangle when they walk. An interesting ritual is the piercing of a camel's nose.
The best cattle in all categories are awarded. Countless people in their colourful attire gather to take a dip in the Holy Lake and pray to the deities. The whole town comes alive with vibrant folk music and dances, magic shows, horse and camel races and various other traditional entertainment competitions.
It is a mellow town by the great lake of Pushkar amidst the perfume of jasmine and rose flowers. More than 4,000 to 6,000 visitors from all over the world come to Pushkar everyday.
Camel Safari in Pushkar
Tourists can explore the rugged terrain of the Great Indian Desert of Thar using camels. The Aravalli Range here is one of the world's oldest mountain ranges, and has sandy fields, small dunes, beautiful hills and mesmerizing sunrises and sunsets.
The camel safaris in Pushkar will take Tourists to destinations where they will witnesses small villages along the way and during crop harvesting, the views are exceptionally enticing.
Attractions:-
Pushkar Lake- The prime attraction of Pushkar is the Pushkar Lake which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place.
Brahma Temple- The most important temple in Pushkar is the Temple of Lord Brahma, one of the holy trinity of Hinduism. In fact it is the only Hindu shrine in the world where Lord Brahma is worshipped. The temple enshrines a life-size idol of Lord Brahma.
Savitri Temple- This temple that is located at the top of the Ratnagiri Hill is dedicated to Savitri, the wife of Lord Brahma. The temple houses a magnificent statue of Goddess Savitri.
Welcome India Travel organizes special “Pushkar Fair 2010” travel.
