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| Pushkar camel fair, Rajasthan. walkthroughindia.com/ |
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| .Pushkar camel fair, Rajasthan. istockphoto.com |
Above image: Normally men wear traditional Rajasthani dress.
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| Came-livestock fair,Pushkar,Rajasthan,India ytravelo.com |
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| Camels at Pushkar fair,Rajasthan. masterfile.com |
The
Pushkar fair
is one of the world's largest camel
fairs, and apart from trading
of
livestock, it has become an important tourist destination.
Since 1972 the Rajasthan government has taken over the organization
of this big
camel-cum-cattle
fair, also called ''Pushkar
ka Mela,''
and
added interesting competitive events such as the ''matka phod''-
longest mustache (sign of male superiority and valour?), bridal
competitions, etc mixed with
social,
cultural and religious events in order to add zest to this otherwise
a dry and dusty event.
The Imperial
Gazetteer of India, recorded an attendance of 100,000 pilgrims
in 1900.
A man with long mustache,Pushkar camelfair,India. indiajourney.com.
Rajasthan
has a vast tract of desert and camels are widely being used for various
purposes such as travel in the inaccessible areas, transporting
cargo, agriculture produce, etc. Camel is the state animal of Rajasthan and people visiting big cities like Jaipur, Udaipur and others can frequently see these weird
looking animals crisscrossing the cities carrying load on them or
pulling carts. Unfortunately the animals are increasing being
slaughtered by people for their meat. The local state government and
animal lovers taking steps to stop this illegal slaughtering.
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| Rajasthani girls at the Pushkar fair,Rajasthan,India, deramstimes.com |
In
2012,
12,000 animals arrived at
the fair and
in 2013,
but
it came down to roughly 11,000,
the reason attributed to reduction of animal is increase in mechanization in the farm operations and less dependence on animals
such as camels, bulls, etc. The town of Pushkar, with numerous Hindu
temple and the famous huge Pushkar lake near
Ajmir,
a major Muslim pilgrim center, is said be one of the oldest towns in
India dating back to several centuries.
A
trip to Pushkar fair serves dual purposes - animal trading and
worshiping at numerous temples there all along the Pushkar lake. There is a famous temple dedicated to Brahma, one of the trinity gods and Brahma temples are rare across India.
This annual traditional fair is held in the month of October and
November. The fair commences on ''Ashtami''
in kartika and ends on 'Pournami''
- full moon day. The first few days are spent on trading and
remaining days are spent on religious activities, fun and frolics. The
religious rituals are held around the full moon day of Karthikai. The
sheer number of visitors including thousands of foreigners would
baffle one's imagination.
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| Pushkar camel fair, image. gallerist.in |
The
2014 fair held recently saw more than 300,000 visitors in just three
days. Surely, this is the only largest camel fair, perhaps, in the
world.
This popular traditional carnival brings thousands of camels, cattle, and horses together at one place and it may be called the largest livestock fair in the world. The main attractions are horse races, cultural performances, exhibitions, magic shows, etc., to entertain the visitors.
As the fair is part of the religious event, pilgrimage on a visit to this place, visit the temple after taking a holy dip in the Pushkar lake on the Purnima day (full moon). The belief has been that it is good for the welfare of the family and also will wash off sins committed in the past. There are many bathing ghats on all sides of the vast Pushkar lake for the convenience of pilgrims.
