I’m delighted that my time in Rajasthan just so happens
to coincide with the single biggest camel trading fair in the whole of India.
Held just once a year in November at the time of the Kartik Purnima full moon,
Pushkar Camel Fair attracts farmers, traders and villagers from all over
Rajasthan, many of whom have traveled for days through the desert with camels,
cows and horses in tow. It sounds really exciting, so of course I get myself on
the first bus to Pushkar to take it all in.
The fair itself attracts literally thousands of people
from all over India and beyond and so the little town of Pushkar is literally
bursting at the seams and alive with life, colour and activity. There are
musicians, fortune tellers, snake charmers and shopping bazaars where you can
pick up everything from funky looking walking sticks to colourful decorations
for your camel. In addition to the camel trading there’s a real carnival like
atmosphere with wagon loads of gypsies arriving in droves and assembling rickety
looking (death trap) fair-ground rides. There’s also an extensive timetable of
games and events to keep the tourist occupied. For the men there’s everything
from turban tying to a mustache competition and tug of war. For us girls there’s
a Mataka (water pot on head) race as well as camel racing, animal beauty
pageants and my personal favorite, camel dancing (I kid you not).
It’s safe to say that Pushkar Camel Fair is a veritable
feast for the senses and the perfect place to just sit with a cool drink in a
nice shaded spot (if you can find one) and take it all in. Myself and my
friends from the volunteer house get chatting to some serious camel traders and
have a bit of craic with them discussing our options for bringing a camel back home
to Ireland. It might be a bit tricky getting him into the overhead locker what
with the hooves and all but just imagine the attention you’d get walking
through arrivals wheeling your suitcase behind you with a two humped central
Asian camel lumbering along by your side………….quite a bit, I’d
say (-:
Namaste from India,
Arlene x
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