Pushkar Fair – Exotic Blend of Trade and Festival

There is a wrong notion about Pushkar Fair in common minds that the fair happens only during October or November and it is principaly a cattle festival. As the matter of fact, Pushkar Fair can be held during anytime between September to November. The date is on Kartik Purnima, and it is not a festival but a cattle trade fair where villagers from distant places of Rajasthan, do rigorous hard work, come to the fair ground and involve in trading.

Pushkar Fair in the course of time become very popular among tourists as it is probably the biggest cattle fair in the whole world. Cows, camels, sheep, goats and their traders flood the city. And if price is any indication – in 1940, the costlier camel went for Rs.77, in 2002, the price rose to nearly 12000. The fair become a week long fiesta with competitions and state-sponsored entertainment program thrown in. In the course of time, a simple business trade has turned into a tourist event. Storytellers, hypnotists, snake charmers, magicians and monkey trainers will all vie for the attention.

The serious business comes from the significant chunk of pilgrims who come to this place to pay their respect to Brahma temple and have a dip in the Pushkar Lake. In Pushkar Fair, men generally buy and sell their livestock (camels, cows, sheep and goats) and the women engage mainly in the stalls where they sell traditional Rajasthani bracelets, clothes, textiles and fabrics. One of the major attractions is the camel race that starts off the festival coupled with music, songs and exhibitions to follow.

Over the years Pushkar Fair witnesses huge number of tourists. Initially Pushkar Fair was started as a solely cattle trade for few people, however, over the years it turns out to be a biggest fair of Rajasthan. There are horse and camel races and betting is heavy. In the Ladhu Umt race teams of up to 10 men cling to camels, and one another, in a hilarious and often chaotic spectacle. The Tug-of-War between Rajasthani and foreigners is usually won by the local favourites. There are also sideshows with jugglers, acrobats, magicians and folk dancers. At nightfall there is music and dancing outside the tents, around friendly fires – an unforgettable experience despite its increasingly touristy nature.