Pushkar Camel Fair

One of the world's largest camel and livestock fairs, blending trading with folk music, camel races, cultural competitions and a sacred bathing pilgrimage at Pushkar Lake.

Coincides with the auspicious Kartik Purnima festival. According to mythology, Lord Brahma created the sacred Pushkar Lake on this day.

Thousands of camels and horses are traded in the desert dunes. The fair features folk dances, musical performances, camel decoration contests, mustache competitions, and a large ferris-wheel carnival.

Pilgrims take holy dips in the 52 ghats of Pushkar Lake and offer prayers at the rare 14th-century Brahma Temple. Traders decorate their camels with intricate embroidery and jewelry for competitions.

Taking a holy bath in Pushkar Lake during the full moon of Kartik is believed to wash away sins and grant spiritual liberation, bringing down the blessings of Lord Brahma himself.

Pushkar has hosted this fair for centuries as part of the Kartik Purnima pilgrimage to the Brahma temple — one of the few in India.

Tens of thousands of camels and livestock change hands, but the real spectacle is the carnival around it — folk performances, snake charmers, longest-moustache competitions, mass weddings, and hot-air balloon rides over the desert dunes. Pushkar's sacred lake hosts a major bathing ritual on the full-moon night.