India's Pushkar Camel Festival
What to Expect at the World's Largest Camel Fair
It's possible to buy a decent camel for around $500 in India, and there's no better place to make a selection than at the Pushkar camel festival.
Indians refer to a fair or festival as a ‘mela’. However, the words more likely to be at the forefront of a westerner’s mind are mayhem and madness. A perfect example of this is the world’s largest camel fair, held every year in Pushkar during the Hindu lunar month of Kartika (which usually falls sometime in November).
The population of Pushkar is normally a relatively tiny 15,000 people. However this explodes to over 200,000 people and 50,000 camels during the festival. At this time, the camels and their owners arrive from all directions and take up residence in makeshift tents in the neighbouring desert. They’re accompanied by the many visiting Indian families who camp out indiscriminately in the open at the edge of the town.
The Legend of Pushkar
Pushkar is an idyllic town in the middle of India's Rajasthan desert. It's full of whitewashed buildings, and is surrounded by hills on three sides and sand dunes on the other. The main feature of Pushkar is its lake. According to Hindu legend, it was made from a lotus flower dropped by Lord Brahma, the Creator, when looking for a place to perform a holy ritual on a full moon night.
Pilgrims who bathe in the lake’s waters believe they will be absolved of their sins. The four days between Kartika Shukla Ekadashi (the eleventh day of Kartika) and Kartika Purnima (the Kartika full moon) are viewed as being the most auspicious. Those who bathe on the day of the full moon are said to receive special blessings. Most of the camel action takes place over the 5 days leading up to the official start of the camel fair on Kartika Shukla Ekadashi, after which time the focus shifts to heightened religious celebrations.
Arriving in Pushkar
Arrival in Pushkar is either by taxi or heaving, dilapidated local bus from Ajmer – 11 kilometres away through the hills. Eager luggage-wallahs immediately assail disembarking tourists and quickly load their bags on to hand drawn carts, which they proceed to pull through the mazes of dusty winding streets to a motley assortment of hotels. Meanwhile, luggage owners follow behind in a daze, absorbed by the sight around them.
The streets are lined with mobile chai (tea) vendors, and hawkers selling everything from clothes and jewellery to decorative items and handicrafts. Everywhere is a dazzling display of brightly coloured turbans, scarves and sarees worn by the Indian people for the festive occasion. One can’t help but be mesmerised.
What to See at the Camel Festival
The scene of the camel fair is just as striking. The sand dunes appear infested with camels as far as the eyes can see. These camels are dressed up, paraded, entered into beauty contests, raced, and of course traded. Some camels even have their hair shaved into patterns to help them stand out from the rest. Along with these peculiar and amusing activities, the crowds are entertained well into each evening by an array of musicians, magicians, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers and carousel rides. Anyone game enough to get close to the centre of these activities runs the risk of being suddenly pulled into the fanfare, encouraged by the frenzied clapping, singing and musical melodies of the other participants.
The Pushkar camel fair provides a fascinating insight into Indian culture and way of life, and will leave a deep imprint in your memory. It’s likely that you’ll return to your hotel room feeling quite overwhelmed but captivated by what you’ve seen and experienced. As you lay on your bed, in the distance you may be able to faintly hear chanting and the ringing of bells that accompany the ancient religious ceremonies, and you’ll know that you’re in the midst of something very special.
