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Pushkar Fair, Rajasthan – In 45 Photos

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Pushkar City and Pushkar Fair Photography Tour, Rajasthan

I went to Pushkar a few days before the Pushkar fair started.

Nearby villagers had arrived at the Pushkar fair ground with their cattle, and some were still on their way. Though the ground was still being set up, the animal trade had started.

A few hundred thousand tourists, photographers, and locals from nearby villages attend the Pushkar Mela every year (mela is fair in Hindi). But as the big influx of tourists was not to come until the camel fair started, the grounds were yet to fill up.

Even though I was only carrying a phone camera, I decided to treat my visit as a Pushkar photoshoot. While walking in the tiny streets of the Pushkar bazaar and wandering on the ghats of the Pushkar Lake, I not only clicked some Pushkar images I am happy with, but I also captured some deep-felt emotions.

Now without saying much, let me take you on this photo tour of Pushkar.

Related Read: Hampi, Karnataka in Pictures 

Please Note: All the below Pushkar photos are clicked on One Plus 5 T. Photos are unedited but sometimes cropped to zoom in and with reduced quality to minimize the file size. Now I click all my pictures with Nikon D3500.

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While walking around the Pushkar Mela one early afternoon.

Pushkar Fair. (Pushkar Mela in Hindi)

Before the Pushkar camel festival even starts, Rajasthanis bring their camels, horses, and other cattle to trade at the fairgrounds.

Once upon a time, the Pushkar fair was the only place to sell and buy animals. As the people of Rajasthan needed camels to run their daily life, they would all go to the fair primarily for animal trade.

But a thick-mustached camel owner told me now the Pushkar mela has lost its charm. Machines, tractors, cars, trolleys, and other modern equipment have replaced animals.

Even though the camel trade is going down, these beautiful creatures aren’t very affordable. The man said the four thousand five hundred rupees he had in cash were not enough to buy another camel. Healthy camels can cost as much as fifty-thousand rupees. But everybody gave me a different price for the animals traded in the Pushkar fair.

This grand affair of ten days also sees handsome horses sold to compete in races. Of course, the fortunate or unfortunate azure-eyed racehorses cost crores of rupees.

Also See: Spiti Valley images – Behind the scenes in Spiti

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Pushkar Mela, Rajasthan.
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I am the queen of the desert, she said proudly, while I clicked her from all angles. One of my best Pushkar Fair images.

At the Pushkar festival, every camel cart driver would promise to show you the best sunset ever. That he will take you to such beautiful rose gardens you would have never imagined. That he would reveal the secrets of the farthest dunes only to you. 

As I have been to remote dunes in Jaisalmer, I politely declined their honest offers.

Then a young Rajasthani camel-cart owner invited me to sit in his cart. As Kushal had the most innocent face, I happily joined him. Later when men teased me, Kushal gently asked me to ignore them.

You wouldn’t find many Indian women traveling solo in India. I was a curious entity for the local men. Also, Rajasthan is a very traditional state, and locals still keep their women behind the purdah.

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And here I was giggling on the top of Kushal’s camel.

Before you judge me for sitting on a camel, I will tell you that that camel was generously fed and well taken care of. Kushal asked me to ride the camel as the other cart members had been on the camel.

I couldn’t say no to Kushal. I didn’t know how to say no. When I talked to Kushal about animal safari, he said his camel was his friend. They roam around together all day long. That the camel wouldn’t mind me.

I never visit a zoo, never buy leather, and don’t ride animals. But in this situation, I didn’t know if a camel safari was right or wrong. The camel was this sweet guy’s friend, that’s all I know.

In Rajasthan, people rely on camels for moving around, carrying loads, and food (milk and meat) for centuries. It is not only hard but impossible to explain to them that camels are sensitive living beings — just like us — and should be let free. Locals would shoo you away like you were some crazy eco-sensitive being.

Also, can Rajasthanis survive without employing camels to carry weight and travel distances? I am not sure.

But when I saw hundreds of animals driven around with a thread through their nose and a cart on their back, I wasn’t happy.

What can we do? To bring a change, we have to give people an alternative.

Please let me know in the comments if you can think of a solution.

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Pushkar Mela. Picture of a camel wearing ghungroo.
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Gypsy women roamed around asking for money in exchange for clicking them. Why wouldn’t they? They were all gorgeous, traditionally dressed in rainbow colors, and adorned with exquisite tribal jewelry.
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One of my favorites from the Pushkar pictures. She said, as much as I understood, that you guys keep taking photos but buy nothing, in a bit of agitation. But when I started talking to her in Hindi, smiled at her, and said the stuff she was selling, mostly heavy utensils, was difficult to carry, she calmed down and smiled back. She was happy to be just engaging with an Indian tourist. Behind the colorful clothes, heavy silver jewelry, big shops with tonnes of stuff, and their photos flaunting the timelines of so many of us photographers and writers, these villagers are just waiting for someone to buy something. And I saw that happening rarely at the Pushkar fair in Rajasthan.
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Animal traders chilling under a neem tree.
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This one looked sick. In the Pushkar camel mela, owners try to get rid of their sick animals.
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Pushkar Mela is a grand affair of 10 days, out of which the first few days are only about the animal fair, where you can see the mela ground patted with handsome horses and quiet camels.
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Camel fair, Pushkar, Rajasthan.
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Most of the villagers and gypsies sat around smoking hukkas. Some women cooked over earthen stoves which were fueled with wood and dried animal dung. By the laid-down attitude of the animal owners, I could sense they weren’t expecting a thriving trade.
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I saw many faces of children at the Pushkar fair.

Children ran around asking to be clicked for ten rupees or they just asked for the money audaciously. Sometimes they chased behind the camel cart to be driven around.

Handing them some mango candies, I wondered if they would even remember me the next day.

And then I saw this.

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It all depends on the parents of these little ones.

After walking around the mela grounds, I went to the Pushkar market.

Pushkar Bazaar is a busy affair around the year and more so at the time of the camel fair in Pushkar. The streets bustled with international and Indian tourists and locals. Photographers raced through the streets while clicking away with their big Canons and Nikons.

Amongst all the chaos in Pushkar city, I tried capturing the real Pushkar.

Pushkar Bazaar, Rajasthan

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Singhara. Or water chestnuts. I have been eating them since childhood and couldn’t resist clicking this cart. The guy knew I was taking his picture, and he decided to act cool. You can eat Singhara either raw or you can boil them and eat them with black salt.

At home, in winter, my father always bought them, and we relished them in the evening. This Diwali when I went home, he brought them again and said, I thought you can have a taste before leaving. I wonder if the coming generations would know about Singhare or many such other small delicacies that are soon becoming a thing of the past. What do you think?

Also Read: Growing Up and Traveling in India

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Silver jewelry, precious stones, and antique accessories – you can get them all in Rajasthan. Pushkar was no different.
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The streets of Pushkar are fringed by artists. This man was kind enough to invite me to his shop to just talk without trying to sell me anything. He paints dancing figures, gods, and goddesses on old postcards – as you can see behind him. He also teaches this art and showed me a collection of his students’ work.

I will always remember him for the honesty and innocence he bore, the ornaments of a true artist.

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Rajasthan also manufactures some of the best Indian clothes. Even if you go street shopping in Ahmedabad, which is also popular for local clothes, shopkeepers will tell you that they bought the items from Rajasthan. Go crazy with the colors.
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How would Rajasthan be without kachori? Little unhealthy deep-fried balls that I have loved since I was a little girl. The first time I had proper Rajasthani onion kachori was when I traveled to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur with a group of friends from college.

I didn’t tell my family about the trip, but I committed other sins, too. One of them was eating a handful of onion kachoris. The ones you see in the picture are dal kachoris, which are also delicious.

In Pushkar, chat-wallahs serve kachoris with kadhi, a curry made with besan and sour curd. If you travel to Pushkar, please try these.

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Malpuas. Heavenly creamy, sweet things. The guy making them shied away when he saw I was taking his pictures.
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A usual scene in India. Do I give money or do I walk away? I always walk away. Most of the beggars in India are part of groups run by the mafia which makes them work forcefully. If we all stop paying maybe some people will not lose their limbs and might spend their lives doing something else apart from begging. Of course, in the process, we will miss those who are limited by their circumstances.
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Only in Rajasthan if you look up you will find peacocks.
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A handful of gooseberries. Rajasthanis make very delicious preparations and pickle out of these.
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You would only find such windows and balconies in Rajasthan. The state of artists.
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Ganesha sits on top and garbage fills the streets. Pushkar, Rajasthan.
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Do you see what I see?
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Children dressed as gods and goddesses to beg. They dragged me to the samosa shop and requested me to buy a few samosas for them. Food is much better than money.

Pushkar Lake and Pushkar Ghats

Karthik (a Hindu month overlapping between October and November) is auspicious for Hindus as it is dedicated to the worship of both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. Pushkar Mela is held in the Karthik month every year. During the fair, Hindus from distant places travel to pay their tributes in the Brahma temple in Pushkar and to bathe in the Pushkar lake.

On the full moon of the Karthik month, the fair ends.

Pushkar lake, located in the center of the city, has many ghats. Each ghat has its pujari or a priest who conducts aarti at sunset. 

While crossing one of the ghats, a pandit stopped me to check if I had performed the prayer that they suggest everyone should do. When I told him I didn’t, he said I was entangled in greed and money.

The pandit called himself the original priest and was one of the many there.

Each ghat has its small lake where you are asked to sit, listen to the many attendants of the main pujari who tell you religious stories, then you pray, and throw a coin in the water to fulfill your wishes. Of course, you also pay the attendant.

Hidden behind the shield of god and religion, some of these pandits were just making money. When I refused, the pandit started harassing me.

You might want to tie a red thread on your right wrist if you want to stay away from those who trade religion for peanuts.

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This scene represents India in many ways.
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Pushkar temple image.
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I found these swans to be the purest and the most peaceful at the Pushkar lake ghats.
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Pushkar Ghat.
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Many schools enter the rangoli-making competition during the Pushkar Mela at the Pushkar ghats. Teachers, principals, and students together make meaningful designs, and then a winner is chosen.
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The lakes, the temples, and the decorations – as seen from the top of one of the buildings around Pushkar lake.
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Locals and foreigners making music.

Pushkar Photos at night.

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Eating Rajasthani food.
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Gatte ki sabji with roti. Gattes are made with chickpea flour and this one is a must-try Rajasthani delicacy.
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A Punjabi singer whose name I can’t recall was called to entertain the crowd.
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Something for the children, too.
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Pushkar Fair, India.

As the Pushkar animal fair progresses, classical Rajasthani dancers perform their shows and musicians make music, villagers do puppet shows, experts walk on ropes, and many more cultural acts are performed.

During these prime days of the mela, the animal traders also start leaving the fair. But the show goes on to keep the tourists entertained. A local from Pushkar told me that camels also dance towards the end of the Pushkar Mela.

Not having the heart to see camels dance at the instruction of humans, I was happy to leave the fair early before it became a touristy affair.

And to be fair, I had had my share of fun.

My Stay in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

I stayed at Saral Shambhala, the eco hut and luxury tents located in the Chawandiya Village of district Pushkar.

Please Note: This was not a sponsored trip. I was introduced to the owner of the place, a sweet lady called Nivi, by a common friend. Nivi invited me to stay at Saral Shambhala because she is kind. The opinions here are my own and, of course, honest.

I arrived in Saral Shambhala after a long-delayed train ride. Settled amidst a big farm and gooseberry fields, the eco-community environment of Saral Shambhala made me feel at home within minutes.

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The eco hut is made from cow dung, mud, and glass bottles. A structure made completely out of waste.

I had to go close to find the face hidden in the mud.

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The earthen jars that my mother used to keep pickles.
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Sitabai, the next-door neighbor brought freshly made poha, beaten rice, every day.
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Regular scenes in Rajasthani villages.
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Doors of Pushkar, Rajasthan.
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My recluse in Saral Shambhala. Under this neem tree, I found some shade and wrote. But behind the tree, you can see dry fields. Farming doesn’t work here. Fruit trees die. Water is scarce. Underground water is a foreign concept. Even in big cities like Pushkar and Ajmer, water is only supplied for forty-five minutes once in two days.
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Handheld fans and baskets are hung on the roof. I loved how the place is put together.
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The common dorm. These books are special. You cannot find most of these editions now.
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Hang out place.
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Let’s sleep under the moon tonight.
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At Saral Shambhala, they end the day with a bonfire.
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Who knows what hidden treasures you might find inside these old editions?
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Eating homemade barley rotis straight out of a chulha at Sitabai’s home. When you would need food, Sitabai, the next-door neighbor would invite you to her home. You can eat fresh roti made in an earthen chulha, with some dry Rajasthani sabji. If she offers you more roti than you want and insists, scare her by telling her you will send a camel to eat her. She would back off.

But the same Sitabai would ask you to never leave and to return as soon as you can. She would suggest sleeping near you if you are scared. After all, you are in the countryside of a big desert.

I would love to back to Saral Shambhala to stay for a month, at least. To read ancient books and write. To watch the birds. To hang out with Sitabai. To talk to the people who run the place with so much love. – But the place is shut down now.

You can browse through other accommodations in Pushkar here.

Do you think Pushkar has lost its charm? Or do you think tourism is essential for Rajasthan?

What do you think of my Pushkar photos?

Like my Pushkar Photo essay! Please pin it!

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