Pushkar

Overview

Pushkar is a small desert town around a sacred lake, holy to Hindus as the site of one of the only temples in India dedicated to Brahma, and holy to travellers for an entirely different reason: for a week or two every November, tens of thousands of camels, cattle, and horses are traded on the dunes just outside town, alongside one of the most photographed festivals in India. Outside fair season, Pushkar is a quiet, easy stop — ghats around the lake, a compact old-town bazaar, and a slower pace than nearby Jaipur or Udaipur.

Best time to visit

The Pushkar Camel Fair (also called Pushkar Mela) runs for roughly ten to fourteen days around Kartik Purnima, which usually falls in November — check the specific dates for the year you're travelling, since it shifts with the lunar calendar. The final two or three days, culminating in the full-moon bathing ritual at the lake, are the most crowded and the most rewarding. Outside the fair, October through February is comfortable desert-winter weather; May through September is best avoided for the heat.

Things to do

• Walk the fairgrounds in the early morning, before 9am, when traders are still setting up and the light is soft — this is when most of the iconic camel-silhouette photographs are taken, and it's markedly less crowded than midday.
• Watch the cattle and camel trading itself. It's a working livestock market first, tourist spectacle second — traders decorate and groom their animals, and bargaining is loud, theatrical, and genuinely happening (not staged).
• Catch the cultural programme. Fair organisers run turban-tying contests, a moustache competition, camel races, and folk-music evenings after dark — check the daily schedule posted at the fair office.
• Bathe or simply sit at the ghats around Pushkar Lake, especially at sunset on Kartik Purnima itself, when thousands of oil lamps are floated on the water.
• Browse the old-town bazaar for block-print textiles, silver jewellery, and leather — prices rise sharply during the fair, so bargain accordingly.
• Stay in a desert camp on the dunes rather than in-town during the fair — most fair-season accommodation is Swiss-tent camps a short walk from the grounds, and they're part of the experience.

Sample itinerary

1. Day 1 — Arrive, old-town bazaar and ghats, sunset at Pushkar Lake.
2. Day 2 — Fairgrounds at dawn for the camel trading and photography, afternoon rest, evening cultural programme.
3. Day 3 — Kartik Purnima bathing ritual at the lake (if dates align), or a day trip to Ajmer's Dargah Sharif, 15km away.