Pushkar Camer fair kicked off

World famous Camel Fair kicked off in Pushkar yesterday in a traditional way with ceremonial flag hoisting and worship. Exhibition football match between foreign tourists and locals and a Camel race stole the show on the opening day. However, the actual 5-day socio-religious annual event of the fair will begin from November 17 with the worship of the holy Puskhar lake. Since ancient era, dating back 2000-3000 years, several lakhs of devotees throng the lake for five days until the full moon day of Kartik Purnima in October-November every year to take a holy dip in the lake. Of late, the Camel fair and cattle trading during the fair gained much popularity worldwide attracting a large number of cattle keepers and even domestic and foreign tourists.
Dance, music and colorful shops spring up during this fair. Also put on sale are mouth-watering traditional delicacies. A host of cultural events against the backdrop of this pretty setting would be organized that includes attractive puppet shows. Pushkar is among the five sacred 'dhams' that are held in high esteem by the Hindus. According to legends, Pushkar lake was surrounded by 500 temples and 52 palaces (several rajas and maharajas maintained palaces here for pilgrimage) at one point. The Brahma temple is the most important temple here and is, in fact, the only Brahma temple in the country.