"pushkar" a Pushkar Travel Page by 6aruna

Pushkar is a small area sorrounding a lake and walled in by mountains.It gets it's name from the lotus flower.Lord Brahma killed a demon vajranabha with a lotus flower the petals of which fell at three places in pushkar where lakes were formed .This lake is sorrounded by temples more than 500 and small palaces. Brahma performed sacrificial bath in this lake during full moon in the month of karthika oct- nov. This week is celebrated by hindus who flock here for a holy dip in the lake.

This is also a social ocassion when a cattle and accessories fair is conducted.You can buy camels ( rs 20,000) horses, goats.You can get anything which a camel owner needs .Then the usual fair regulars like bangles shoes,household utensils, clothes .Festival time is the time for buying blankets. The government has added a camel race ,horse race and some street circus.

Fairs are always a means for earning money in this water starved area. people sell anything .I saw snake charmers, musicians, artisans cobblers,people selling small tools for cleaning ear, barbers, carpenters, potters .It is rural India

what i found interesting was the enormity of the fair. An estimated 2 lakhs camels were on display and more than 50 % changed hands. Camel is a multipurpose utility animal in the desert. Transportation,food, hide for shoes, bags and sheltor,manure what not.
The horses cows sheep etc were in minimal numbers in comparison.

another thing which interested me was the villagers efficiency in recycling anything and everything. For a fair of this magnitude the garbage was pretty minimal and the winding alleys were clean.

I have included a picture of camel dung being dried . This is subsequently used as manure. For a novice it looks like some tuber.