Una quiet town in India for a few days each year becomes the center of a series of absolutely unmissable events. We are in the Indian Rajasthan region, the place where the famous Pushkar fair, also called “Pushkar Mela,” takes place.
Every year, on the days of the November full moon, thousands of people pour here to participate in this event: it is a highly anticipated livestock fair for two reasons.
Undoubtedly for purely commercial reasons: in Pushkar thousands of shepherds and more generally owners of goats, horses, cows, and camels arrive to buy and sell and to “show off” the animals.
The second reason is that the Pushkar Fair takes place on the same days as Kartik Purnima, an important religious festival that commemorates the creation by Brahma, the Creator, of the holy lake of Pushkar.
For this reason, this area becomes the destination of a great pilgrimage that culminates, on the day of the full moon, with the custom of bathing in the waters of the lake itself. Thus, sales, barters, commercial exchanges alternate with religious rites and prayers.
Thus, on the streets of Pushkar, on these particular days, street artists, musicians, street vendors also arrive: a true village festival where you can have fun and buy Indian handicrafts.
The local population seizes the opportunity to “honor the festival” appropriately, dressing in the best traditional clothes they have: careful makeup; women’s clothes full of wonderful and precious details, with sparkling mirrors; elaborate and colorful men’s turbans.
A unique opportunity – especially for Western travelers – to immerse oneself in the most heartfelt, ancient, and traditional Indian fairs and festivals.
