The Pushkar Camel Fair

Pushkar is a small lakeside town in Rajasthan that fills once a year, in the month of Kartik, when traders bring camels, horses and cattle to the sand flats on its edge. For the first days the fairground is a working livestock market: animals tethered in long lines, decorated for sale, buyers walking the rows at dawn. Alongside it runs a fair with a Ferris wheel, competitions, moustache and turban contests, folk musicians and a large temporary bazaar. The pilgrimage side builds towards the full moon, when people bathe at the ghats around the lake. The number of animals has fallen over the years, but the size of the crowd has not.

What to look for

• The livestock ground - camels and horses tethered in lines on the dunes, busiest at first light.
• Decorated animals - shaved patterns, dyed necks and tasselled harness on stock brought for sale.
• The fairground and arena - competitions, folk performance and a temporary bazaar behind the trading area.
• The lake ghats - stepped bathing ghats that fill steadily as the full moon approaches.

When to go

The fair runs for roughly a week in November, timed to the Kartik full moon, so the dates shift each year. Trading is heaviest in the first half and the cultural programme in the second. Dawn on the dunes is the best hour by a wide margin. Book accommodation months ahead; tented camps go up only for the week.

Good to know

It is far more commercial than the photographs suggest, with staged photo opportunities, camel rides pushed hard and payment expected for portraits. Dust is constant and the fairground is loud from early morning until late at night. Room prices multiply. Animal handling is not always comfortable to watch. Outside fair week Pushkar is a very quiet town indeed.

Nearby

Ajmer is half an hour away and Jaipur is around three hours by road.

Key facts