Pushkar - The Holy Land

Pushkar, The name derived from ‘Pushpa'(Flower) and ‘kar'(hand) is also called as “Tirthraj “-The King of Pilgrimage Sites.

It is one of the oldest and holy existing city of India. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagna. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar.

In recent year it has become a popular destination for foreign tourist and Photographers specially during  Camel Trade fair.
So was my first trip to Pushkar to witness what so great about this place and the world largest Livestock fair.

The Trade fair for this year started on 18th Nov 2015  and ended on Purnima (25th Nov).

I left my City (Pune) on 19thNov  2015 via Mysore -Ajmer Express in general class as usual due to unplanned Trip and last minute ticket booking.

Day 1 :Reached on 20th Evening at Ajmer, caught the local city bus and not surprise  on seeing so many enthusiast visitor like me in the bus.

On reaching Pushkar at around 7.00pm,  I saw poster on the wall of some classical dance performance by local and renowned Indian classical dancers at Old Rangaji mandir .
Instead of looking for some decent room for me so that I can relax the tired journey I stepped into the Old Rangaji Mandir (situated in the mid of Pushkar) where the program was on on live.

Surprise to notice the full packed open air theater with huge crowd and foreigners.
Instead of shooting the same I just sat down and enjoy the soothing and enchanting classical performance but later couldn’t resist myself to take couple of snaps.

Classical Event

After the event I start searching for some cheap decent room for backpacker, tried some dharmasalas, guest house, but due to peak season, all were occupied and finally I had to settled myself for home stay. But though was satisfied as I manged to get @ rs. 300/day, not so bad deal.

After getting  fresh, I opt to take a walk around 10.pm on the banks of Pushkar Lake, which is the Charm of Pushkar.

Damn god! what a view it was..more than my expectation. Beautifully lit with  diyas around the Lake, one of the best view in my entire Life.

Pushkar Lake

I took a walk around the lake with my Cam and finally settled myself on the Steps of Lake to enjoyed the serene moments.

Day 2: The next Day, I geared up myself with with all shooting accessories for the Camel trade and local fair.

On reaching the trade spot, I was confuse, whether it was a camel fair or photographers’s fair though I too was part of it ;).

Photographers Enjoying Clicking Moments.

I met up with an Australian couple who has been visiting this fair continuous past 6 years. We had share our snaps to look out for bit pron and cons in the clicks and was quite useful.

During these 6 days, mass trading of cattle, such as camels, horses, cows, goats, and sheep, take place during these five days. After the selling and purchasing of popular breeds, parading of the well bred and decked up cattle take place. Although various animals are traded, camels rule the roost.

I involved myself during one the trade to see how actually trading is done and how the negotiation goes.

Being a midsized and immature Camel, the demanded amount was 10K, however the buyer countered with 7.5K.

With several negotiations, deal was closed with 8k

Generally these traders stays for 4-5 days, with temporarily tents for shelters as getting a customers within a single day is very hard to impossible.

Enjoying Chillam

These traders generally assemble in a group to pass the leisure time with chai and Chillam and discuss their trade propaganda.

After having a tour around the camel fair, in the evening we proceed to Pushkar Lake where live Concert of Famous classical Subha Mudkal  was organized.

A temporary stage was built on the bank of lake where the concert was to be performed. As a special quest Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje was invited.

Subha Mudgal  Live Concert

Finally the Evening Ends with some Fireworks  with Synchronized Nagada played by combined artist from India and Foreign countries.

In the Evening we had dinner with nearby guest mate -a Spanish couple.

Day 2:
Early morning around 5.30, after after a hot cup of tea in kulhad (cup mad of clay), I proceed for Pushkar lake to attend the Maha arti.

Thereafter I moved to Main fair of the Pushkar.

People from nearby states viz, haryana, Punjab, UP marched to this place for trade or as a customer. Majority of the Items sold were related to Village house hold, farming equipment (all hand made), Animals gears and as such.

At one end was hustling Market whereas on the other end Pushkar Ground several events were organized.


Birds Eye view of Fair

Village Fair

At Late evening, Traditional /Cultural events were organized at Pushkar Mela Ground.

Various performance were organized – traditional/Folk dance of Various States, Musical Events by Local Performers and so on.

I really enjoyed the event and was an awesome evening.
The day was over and had to rush for a room, as I have to leave early next morning for the Pune.

Finally the Tour End

Missing U Pushkar.


Will Come back…Next Year

Note: 
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