The Pushkar Mela

A medley of colours swirls around to once a year to form a striking spectacle that is called the Pushkar Mela. The fair is held at Pushkar town, 11 km from Ajmer in the state of Rajasthan in India for twelve days annually. This cultural and trade cum religious fair is an attractive and lively spectacle with local men and women in their colourful traditional attire, saffron-robed and ash smeared Sadhus (holy men) and thousands of bulls, cows, sheep, goats, horses and camels in richly decorated saddles. Perhaps the largest cattle fair in the world, it attracts more than one lakh people, from all over
Rajasthan as well as tourists from different parts of India and abroad.

Trading of cattle, camel races and dazzling displays of bangles, brassware, clothes, camel saddles and halters make the fair colourful spectacle that has to be seen to be believed. Necklaces of glass beads from Naguar, pottery, printed textiles from Jodhpur and Ajmer are all on sale here. Farmers, cattle traders and breeders buy and sell their animals. There are facilities for camel rides also.

This livestock fair coincides with the climaxing of a religious celebration. Pushkar is among the five main places of pilgrimage mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. It has a large number of temples including one of the only two temples dedicated to Lord Brahma in India. Hundreds of thousands of devotees take a ritual dip in the holy Pushkar Lake on the day of the Kartik Purnima (full moon night of the Kartika month) and worship at the Brahma temple (Jagat Pita Shri Brahma Mandir). Pilgrims flock from all over India to be in Pushkar at this auspicious time. They also believe that all the 330 million Gods and Goddesses are present at Pushkar Lake during the occasion.

Apart from the religious rituals and trading, people participate in a number of cultural and sporting events. The sweeping expanse of the desert becomes dotted with thousands of camels, stalls and camping families. Along with the Indian tourists Pushkar fair pulls a huge number of foreign tourists to its magic also. This is the place and the time when Rajasthan comes alive in all its colours and myriad hues of cultural bonhomie that is rarely seen anywhere else in India. The Pushkar mela 2007 will be organised from November 18th to 24th 2007.