Pushkar Fair
Your Visitor Guide
General orientation
If you are Generally the crowd is maximum at 2 spots- around the Brahma Temple and the Gau Ghat where the famous malpua sweet makers have their shops. The Jaipur Ghat and Varaha Ghat are the two spots where you can reach from the highway using the tuktuk. On quieter days, it’s even possible to reach till the backside of Brahma Temple. In the Fair Ground, the Horses section comes first and it takes more area. Walk further till you reach the sand dunes where camels are kept. The Savitri Temple hill is right behind. A sandy track fit for camel cart ride goes to the town by completely bypassing the horses area. It meets the road near the Savitri Temple parking. It’s safe to walk on this track in sunlight hours. In other times, stick to the usual Brahma Temple road that goes through Horses area. Depending on the crowd intensity of a particular day, vehicles arriving from the city of Ajmer will be allowed or disallowed to come closer to the Ajmer-Nagaur Road or the Pushkar bypass junction. Your hotel, if not located around the holy town, will require prearranged pickup and dropping. Most new and fancy hotels and resorts are located quite a distance away if road is taken which one must take for checking in or out. For other times, for visiting the Fair Ground and Mela Ground, commenting is relatively easier by walking and even better, by camel cart.
Fair survival guide
- You will be walking most of the times. Wear good shoes. You will have to remove shoes on visiting temples and bathing ghats.
- Stay hydrated. The air is very dry.
- Wear full and comfortable clothing.
- Check calender of events. It will take a while for you to walk from one venue to another.
- Start early in the morning for the animal fair part. This will help you return by breakfast time in your hotel.
- There is vast difference in how you may feel as a photographer around the horses area and around the camels area. In the horses area, you’ll be invited to see inside and freely take pictures. The horses being checked for their quality by ride on the same road on which you are walking might need sometimes some careful awareness of your surroundings.
- In the camels area, the scene is more traditional. Turbaned buyers and sellers squat under the shadows of tethered camels to discuss the deals. There are traditionally attired women who do the job of
- It can be helpful to contract a reliable camel cart owner or tuktuk driver for the time of need. Their arrangements work well if timing is set in advance with them over their mobile phones.
- It’s going to be very crowded at times, especially around the holy lake, Brahma Temple and the stadium area. There is no harm in waiting a while in a quieter spot for some time and let it all go. Approaching from the side of hold town, if you find the zone around Brahma Temple entrance highly crowded, take the side lane to bypass which will lead to the fair ground.
- Help from the authorities. Administration puts up a temporary control zone in a demarcated tented zone just next to the Stadium.
- Food. Generally food served in the restaurants around the holy lake is good. You may also try fresh malpua sweets made in the shops around Gau Ghat. There are a few rooftop restaurants which give a view of the Ghats. Probably they are the best spots to photograph the Ghats without offending anyone. Outside the holy town, there are very restaurants which are safe for everyone’s stomachs. Avoid eating in the Ferris wheels and stadium area, those food are generally safe but can be best tolerated by the local stomachs.
- Avoid taking pictures of bathing women on the ghats. Be careful when visiting the Ghats where some people may persist on you on performing puja and give them donation. The Jaipur Ghat is the best Ghat where you may stroll freely and enjoy your time. There are a few sunset view cafes overlooking these Ghats. In the evening the scene is quite celebratory.
- Overall, the scene might look overwhelming. Take it easy and slowly you’ll experience the things best suited to your interests.
- Things tend to get quiet around the night. Most good places to eat close around 10 pm.
The scene of Fair explained
While nothing may fully prepare you for what surprises you find at every turn in the Fair and the spectacle in completeness may seem overwhelming, the bigger surprise is to discover that you are never actually lost. There are three broad sections to the spectacle- the holy Pushkar town, the Mela ground and the animal fair area. Plus you have vast areas on the periphery where there are many lodges, tented camps and resorts. The Savitri Temple on the spur of a conical standalone hill always remains a reference point.
How everything mixes up and functions. Nothing happens in isolation.
You will have to choose each time where you want to be at a particular time. Many things may happen at the same time. At the time of best sunlight in dusk for animal photography, certain processions may happen in the Holy town bazaar unannounced. Plus, there are advertised events like the Nagada drums playing on the edge of lake to lamp floating on a different ghat. Quite possibly something interesting is staged at the same time in the Stadium in the Mela Ground. You will also think that probably this was the best time to climb upto Savitri Temple. Even when you stay in Pushkar for a week you might feel that you have missed some to witness some. Great idea is to make the best use of the time of sunrise and sunset. As a rule of thumb, wake up early everyday and devote the first couple of mornings to get accustomed to the animal fair ground area. Things start getting easy from here. Going to the animal fair will require considerable walking or camel cart ride. This will make you understand the directions and reference points like the Savitri Temple Hill, giant Ferris wheels, the sky blue tin roof of the stadium, railway track, traffic intersection of animals where open water tank for their drinking is built and so on. It is in this area where you’ll find the people much relaxed and willing to interact. Just imagine if everything was not going at the same time. Then this Mela will not be a Mela but an orchestrated event. The Pushkar Mela is a strong example of how random energies combine to form a reservoir of entities in which anyone can take a dip. You might want to be soaked in this reservoir again and again as nobody stops you from doing anything. There is no premium category activity in Pushkar. No VIPs. Whatever that happens, happens because everybody wants it to happen. Things that happen, they happen in a rhythm and this rhythm is something that has to be senses. Once you are part of this rhythm, your participation is as good as anybody’s.