Pushkar Fair - The magic of Rural Rajasthan
By Harsh Wardhan
28 Nov 2007
Pushkar is the holiest city of Hindus famous for its Brahma temple. It is also a popular destination of western tourists. Devotees visit it all round the year but the month of Kartik (Indian Lunar calendar) around Kartik Purnima brings millions of devotees as well as foreign tourists to this holy city. It is said that taking a bath on Pushkar Lake makes a sinner free from his deadliest sins.
Pushkar Lake called, as "Brahma sarovar" is the heart of this small town, surrounded by 52 bathing ghats. Most ghats have innumerable temples around the lake & the biggest of all is "Brahma temple".
Kartik month brings in millions of rural folks & western tourists (Americans, Israelis, Koreans & Europeans). There is explosion of color, song & dance. It is a great site to see tourists mingling with each other in spite of language & financial barriers. Apart from washing off their sins, village folk come here to sell & buy the animals mainly camels, horses, cows & other domestic animals. Everything is colorful, exuberant & vibrant. Lanes are full of magicians, snake charmers, storytellers & villagers selling their hand made products. This also gives them opportunity to buy cloths & other city made things.
Grounds near the sarovar are full of animals to be sold. Rajasthan tourism organizes various activities like Camel race, horse race etc in a nearby stadium. Evenings are full of cultural activities of colorful Rajasthani music & dance. Sunset as seen at the "sunset point" is especially beautiful & almost every visitor can be seen around this place.
