Pushkar: The Fair

The Pushkar Camel Fair is one of India's grand epics. Each year, around 200,000 people converge on the small town, bringing with them some 50,000 camels and cattle for several days of pilgrimage, livestock trading and festivities.

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Left: Mawari horses lined up for inspection. Notice the pointed and curved ears.

Above: Some livestock traders. I love the curved mustaches.

Right: A man and his favorite bull... or maybe just another of his many bulls. It doesn't matter, cus he has that amazing turban.

Also at the fair, they have animal adornments. These include bells, mirrors, and ribbons. A fully adorned camel, is quite a beautiful sight. I got Pam a few horse adornments, I hope that her horses won't reject them.

Left: The scene at the fair is at the same time chaotic and frenzied with all the animals making their special noises and people wandering around checking them all out AND calm and quiet for those waiting for a buyer to walk by and... buy something.

Right: A man sits and comforts a six month old camel who lost his mother. The poor sad camel was crying and crying and crying. He couldn't be consoled. I don't know what happened to the mother, but from what I hear the future of camels is precarious. The camel herders can't find buyers for his camels, can't sell them for less than a certain price, and they can't keep their herds without selling any of their camels.

Left: Marwari horses. They were a beautiful bunch of horses. I wanted to bring some home with me, but they wouldn't fit in my carry-on luggage.

Right: A man with his horses.

November 23, 2004
All of this is sort of secondary to what was really going on when we were there... the buying, trading and selling of livestock. This has been a fair for the last 2000 years supposedly. It wasn't quite so big in the past, but it is now. We wandered around and saw the beautiful marwari horses... an rajasthani breed whose ears touch above their head. They are small and delicate like arabians... and quite feisty. They were everywhere. There was also thousands of camels stretching as far as the eye could see. We happened by a wheeping camel... a 5 month old whose mother passed away. The little camel was crying and crying, wanting his mother. No amount of affection from his handler could stop the baby's crying. I was later told a story about a documentary. Sometimes camels reject their young in captivity. This happens often enough that they have developed methods to coax the mother to pay attention to the youngun. The most effective of which is the violin, which plays the saddest of tunes and the mother and baby camel begin to literally wheep. Soon thereafter, there is an acceptance. An Indian made a documentary of this which I will have to watch.

Left: A few men sit around waiting for a buyer. The way they can sit there crouching like that for hours is one of the most amazing parts of the entire thing. I guess it helps to have NO fat.

Right: Some lovely, "model girls" that dress up and adorn themselves for tourists cameras.

Left: A man, testing out a marwari horse. They have a nice gallop. They all seem a little wild too.

Right: Many of the horses are decorated with spangles and ribbons and bells. This horse has a beautiful bridle. All of these items can also be purchased at the fair.

Left: A woman sits with baskets of some fine vegetables. She was the only veggie vendor I saw on the fairgrounds, so I hope she got some good business.

Right: Men in brightly colored clothes. One is supposed to be able to tell the differences between people from different regions based on the clothing and the turbans. I can't.

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