Pushkar Fair - Colorful Desert

It was yet another year, when I so wanted to visit the Pushkar Fair, which I’d heard about so much.
To add on to my untamed enthusiasm, I discovered that the last few days of the fair would fall on weekend. I had already decided to go to Pushkar, but was only waiting if I could persuade any of my friend for trip company. The saying, when you have will, you have the way was so very true for me. I was sitting in office on Friday afternoon when I got to know that my old friend was also contemplating to go. Thanks to all modern technology which lets you connect instantly and get such pleasant surprises!

Pushkar, one of the oldest cities of India is the only pilgrim for the Brahma devotees. It is famous for the extravagant, flamboyant Pushkar Fair. The fair brings alive the glorious tradition of Rajasthan and the roaring enthusiasm of fair participants as well as visitors makes it a lifetime experience. It’s the only fair which attracts unbelievable amount of foreign tourists.

The sheer excitement to see colorful desert, we drove the whole night and landed up at a small hotel, as all hotels were either occupied or pre-booked. The best place to stay is the RTDC Tourist Village because of its proximity to the fair ground, as during the fair vehicle movements are restricted.

Besides this, budget hotels, deluxe hotels and heritage hotels like Pushkar palace or Sarovar are also available, but all need to be pre-booked if you come during the fair. But this didn’t bother us much as we were meant to stay out mostly. By 4.30am, the desert was already awake and people have started for the fair ground to put up their stalls and get ready for the day’s festivities.

We started our day by visiting the Pushkar Lake, one of the foremost places to see. The lake has a mythological significance and is surrounded by temples. The Jagat Pita Brahma Temple-only one in India is of utmost importance to pilgrims is also situated here.

Our next attraction, was the Pushkar Camel Fair - one of the largest in India and the only one of its kind in the entire world, which is held every year during kartik purnima. During the fair, lakhs of people from rural India as well as foreigners flock to Pushkar. From a mere 14,000 to a massive 200,000! This is how the population of Pushkar swells during the Pushkar Fair. According to lonely planet -"Its truly a feast for the eyes.

The festival hosts around 50,000 camels which are sold, decorated, shaved and raced. The show goes on for a whole week as travellers continue to join in the fun, which includes a number of cultural competitions. Colourfully dressed devotees, musicians, acrobats, folk dancers, traders, comedians, sadhus and tourists crowds, decorated camels, cattles, the exotic delicacies, the vivid stalls, competitions, the spectacular fair ground, exotic food makes it a lifetime experience. The entire desert looks so full of life, colorful and vibrant.

The fair has loads of activities like camel ridding, shooting, wheel rides etc along with a huge shopper’s corner. From here one can buy showpieces like armours, swords or the colorful rajasthani pagdi’s, clothes, accessories, etc. There’s enough activities and hustle bustle to keep one engaged. Within the fair, are stalls/tents serving authentic rajasthani food. The mouth-watering kormas cooked in pure ghee, the sumptuous gatte-ki-sabzi, papad ki sabzi and the famous dal-bati-churma are any food lover’s delight.

Each day brought different folk dances and music of Rajasthan, performers delivering live shows to the roaring and applauding crowds. The entire experience lived up to the spirit of festivities and was colorful beyong our thoughts!