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Fair & Festival of Rajasthan :: Pushkar Fair & Festival
Pushkar Fair & Festival
When it comes to celebrating fairs and festivals, there is no matching the pace of Rajasthan. One of the most popular and colorful fairs of the Thar Desert is the Pushkar fair, which begins on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi and goes on for five days till Kartik Purnima. The Pushkar Lake provides an ideal setting to the Pushkar Camel fair. The time of the fair coincides with the bright half of the moon during the months of October-November. According to the legends all the Gods visit Pushkar for 5 days every year.
It accounts for the unbelievable number of devotees who flock to the lake to wash away their sins.
Main Attractions at Pushkar Fair
The scenic lake of Pushkar forms a fascinating location and a befitting backdrop for the annual religious and cattle fair. The Pushkar fair comes alive with the colorful Rajasthani dresses. The colorful headgears of men and veils and skirts of women bring alive the arid landscape of Pushkar.
Village women dress in their best colorful clothes and finery for the five-day fair (mela). With more than 400 temples, Pushkar is one of the most sacred places in India. The most important temple of Pushkar is the Brahma temple. The sacred Lake is bound by 52 Ghats. During the Pushkar mela, thousands of devotees take holy dip in the Pushkar Lake.
Throughout the Pushkar fair, thousands of people crowd the stadium where camels, horses, and cows are paraded and raced. Camels are bought and sold during the Pushkar fair. Though cattle and other livestock are also traded, it's camels that hold center stage at Pushkar. Camel-traders and villagers from every nook and corner of Rajasthan throng to Pushkar with a large number of humped beasts. Over 25,000 camels are bought and sold making this world's largest camel fair.
An interesting event is the camel beauty contest, where they are adorned and paraded. All the camels are cleaned, washed, adorned, some are interestingly decorated to form patterns and special stalls are set up selling finery and jewelry for the camels. Camels at the Pushkar fair are decorated with great care. They wear jewelry of silver and beads. There are silver bells and bangles around their ankles that jingle-jangle when they walk. The piercing of a camel's nose is another interesting ritual.
Activities :
Dance music and colorful shops spring up during this fair. Also on sale are mouth-watering traditional delicacies. Colorfully attired village folk enhance the fun of the occasion.
A host of cultural event against the backdrop of this pretty setting is also organized including attractive puppet shows. Cattle auction and camel races are also a part of the festivities.
History :
Pushkar is among the five Dhams or pilgrimages that are held in high esteem by Hindus, the others being Badrinath, Puri, Rameswaram, and Dwarka.
It is said that in battle lord Brahma killed the demon Vajra Nabh with a lotus flower, whose petals floated down to earth and landed in three places in and around Pushkar where lakes sprang up. According to legends, Pushkar Lake was surrounded by 500 temples and 52 palaces (several rajas and maharajas maintained palaces here for pilgrimage) at one point.
The Brahma temple is the most important temple here and is, in fact, the only Brahma temple of India. It is interesting to note that Brahma is not worshipped, even though he is one of the Holy Trinity of Hinduism. Brahma, it is said, had descended on earth to perform a Yajna (fire-sacrifice). His wife Savitri was not with him at that time and the Yajna would be incomplete without her. Therefore, Brahma married a local girl and sat down for the Yajna. Meanwhile Savitri landed on earth and, upon finding this new bride sitting next to Brahma, cursed him that he would never be worshipped anywhere else on earth.
Pushkar city guide and travel information
Getting there :
By Air :
The nearest airport from Pushkar is Jaipur. Jaipur is well connected to all the major cities which includes Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Jodhpur, Udaipur. Recently, flights to Dubai has also started from Pushkar by Indian Airlines.
By Bus :
Pushkar is 11 km from main Ajmer bus stand. Rajasthan Roadways run very comfortable deluxe & air conditioned buses from Jaipur. There are buses from Jaipur to Ajmer every 15 minutes, some nonstop. The roads are very good, and it takes around 2 hrs from Jaipur. You can also come by taxi.
By Train :
The nearest railway station for Pushkar is Ajmer, which is on the Broad Gauge and hence connected to all the metro cities of India. There are daily trains from Delhi in morning (Shatabdi Exp) and evening (Intercity Exp).
