The Pushkar Fair, also called the Pushkar Camel Fair or locally as Kartik Mela or Pushkar ka Mela is an annual multi-day livestock fair and cultural fête held in the town of Pushkar (Rajasthan, India). The fair starts with the Hindu calendar month of Kartik and ends on the Kartik Purnima, which typically overlaps with late October and early November in the Gregorian calendar. In 1998, over 1 million visitors came to Pushkar throughout the year.The Pushkar fair alone attracts over 200,000 visitors.

India’s largest cattle fair, Pushkar mela, is a camel and livestock fair celebrated every year at Pushkar in Rajasthan. The five-day fair commenced on October 31 and ended on November 6, 2014. It is a captivating and unexpected glimpse of an old traditional-style Indian festival.

Pushkar Fair is one of the world’s largest camel fairs which not only witnesses the trade of of livestock but has also become one of the most important tourist attractions in Rajasthan. An impressive and decorated 50 thousand camels are displayed in Pushkar, raced and traded during this fair every year. The reason for the attraction of tourists in the fair are competitions like “matka phod”, “bridal competition” and “longest mustache”.

The main aim of this fair is to accelerate the trade of livestock, which includes camels, sheep, cows and goats amongst the local people. This fair was initiated by local cattle traders to do business, but is now India’s largest cattle fair which attracts large number of tourists.

The main attractions of the fair :

Camel Race : A traditional camel race is the first event in the Pushkar. In this event more than 50,000 camels are raced to the finish line before the music stops. Though the main purpose of the fair is to trade camels, this event attracts foreign as well as Indian tourists.

Gorband : One of the most important events during the fair is Gorband. Here the camels are decorated in Rajasthani attire and with colorful bridles. The hair of the camels is shaved into various designs, cut and tied so that the camel looks beautiful. Every year dozens of camels take part in this event.

Horse and Camel Dance : The Pushkar Fair is incomplete without the Horse and Camel Dance event. In this event, most of the traders take part with their horses and camels. All the participants in this event dress in colorful costumes and perform a dance with their animals to music.

Kabaddi Match : A contact sport, kabaddi a south Indian sport, is also one of the main attractions of the fair. The match takes place between locals verses foreign tourists and the wining team gets the trophy.

Turban Competition : In Rajasthan the turban is popularly known as a ‘pagri’, a symbol of pride, honour, equality and respect. Usually, this event is organized for foreign tourists. In this competition, foreigners have to tie a turban in a minimum period of time. This particular event symbolizes the rich culture of Rajasthan.

 Other Cultural Activities : Thousands of people go to the banks of the Pushkar Lake where the fair takes place. Men trade their livestock, which includes camels, horses, cows, sheep and goats. Rural families shop at the handicraft stalls full of bracelets, clothes, textiles and fabrics. A camel race starts off the festival, with music, songs and exhibitions to follow. Between these events, the most waited for is the test of how the camel is able to bring the items. In order to demonstrate, the men go up on the group of camels one after another.

Apart form all the above events, there are other cultural activities like snake dance, Kalbelia dance and tug of war, to entertain local communities as well as foreigners.

Visit Pushkar Fair in Rajasthan, for a glimpse of local culture, and an adventure tour that is completely out of the ordinary. The peak celebrations occur over the last five days from the Kartik ekadashi to Kartik Poornima, the full moon day of Kartik (October–November) in Hindu calendar. This period sees an influx of Hindu pilgrims who attend the fairs, visit the temples and take a dip in the Pushkar lake.