I imagine that the Pushkar Camel Fair, held in Pushkar India every year during the Kartik Purnima full moon, would be like stepping into a scene from a movie or fantasy novel. Camels adorned in beautiful accoutrements numbering in the thousands, alongside cattle and horses, juxtaposed with the high tinny sounds of fair rides, delighted screams of those on them, the sounds of fair games, concerts, and other performances. It seems surreal to think about. but I'm getting ahead of myself, let's get into some of the nitty gritty about this fair and then we can explore some more.
The Pushkar Camel Fair is one of the world's largest camel fairs, bringing in 1,000 of camels to be shown off and sold. This year it's celebrated November 20-28th, however the celebrations can last for up to 14 days, and is typically visited by 400,000 people, and growing, each year. Along with the buying and selling of cattle you'll find a fair with games and rides to enjoy, live concerts, music, traditional dancing, performances, competitions that tourists can also partake in, fortune tellers, and much more. There's also some camel racing and since the camels are there to be sold, you have a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with these interesting creatures.
Sophie Pearce, over at the Third Eye Traveller has some great first-hand suggestions on where to stay, what to do, and what it's like to be at the fair in this blog entry of hers, go take a read as it's super helpful and informative! One thing I'll say here is that she highly recommends staying in one of the camps located on site, or really close to it, moreso than the hotels that you'll find. If you're not much for roughing it, don't worry, Sophie talks about her stay at the Royal Heritage Camps and Safari and it seems pretty plush. She mentions having actual beds, A/C, a private porch, and a bathroom with a shower. I'm not sure if they're all like that, but it seems like a really interesting way to enjoy the fair and not wake up with a crick in your back from lying on the ground!
The camels here are dressed to the nines and ready to be on display. Adorned with pom-poms, flowers, macrame-looking saddle covers, anklets, headbands, bells, paint, and other bits and bobs, it truly would be a sight to behold. You can also ride on the camels out into the desert on a camel safari. If you're not into riding on one of these giants, you can opt to be pulled behind them in a Rajasthani carriage. Besides the camels, you can watch, or partake, in the contests throughout the duration of the fair. These include turban tying, cricket matches, musical chairs, water pot racing and the most oddball one- mustache styling!
But Pushkar isn't only important because of the Camel Fair. Lake Pushkar is an important landmark for Hindus who believe that Lord Brahma, the creator of the world in Hindu mythology, created this lake. Because of this, Hindus will descend upon the lake in hundreds to bathe in it's waters for the 2 days around the full moon, when it's the most auspicious time for bathing in the lake to absolve sins. Pushkar is also known as the only place that has a temple dedicated to Lord Brahma, so many Hindus probably also make trips here outside of of the Camel Fair in order to visit this temple. In the evenings along the lake Maha Aarti takes place, which is like a ritual or ceremony that uses fire and light as offerings to the gods, in this case that would be Brahma.
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Photo by Gaurav Gupta on Unsplash