lThey come alone they come in groups they come with family they come to meet friends they come from villages they come from the one fair to another they come to sell they come to buy. They are the camel sellers.
They are Rabaries by community. Tradining camels is their main livelihood. There are many cattle fairs in India where camels are traded besides the only camel breeding farm in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Pushkar is the largest camel fair in India. Almost every camel traders come to Pushkar for business.
Over the fortnight leading up to the full moon of Kartika month (late Oct/early Nov), villagers from the desert regions of western India come to Pushkar for the famous Kartik Purnima festival and camel-trading fair.
There are mainly two types of traders in Pushkar—some are the direct breeders who sell the camels in the fair preferably In wholesale whereas the other groups are basically traders from whom the villagers can buy cattle in small numbers.
To the camel traders, the fair is not only the place for business, it also gives them the opportunity for meeting relatives, friends from distant villages. It also serves as the place for marriage proposal and fixation within their community.
During the fair the entire ground transform into a colony of varied religions and community. Along with traders there come other business people as ancillary. There come the money lenders, hawkers with daily necessity items, the food vendors.
The camel traders come to Pushkar with about 50000 camels all together. Many big traders come with about 70 to 100 camels where as there are traders who bring only one camel to sell in the fair. Not that all the traders sell up to their expectation. Normally the price of the camel vary from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 40000 but may vary depending upon the demand and supply gap. To the villagers demand for female camel is more as camel milk is becoming more popular. The also consider camel to be the asset and symbol of prosperity. Women in the family play the main role in choosing the camel and once bought the camel are treated as the family member. To the people of Rajasthan , camel is the sign of well being hand prosperity similar to cow to the Hindus.
All through the year there are number of cattle fairs in Rajasthan and adjoining areas of Gujarat. Some traders move continuously from one fair to another with their cattle. Camel traders mainly come from Nagaur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Barmer Pali and some small villages of Western Rajasthan.
Though primary objective of coming to fair is to sell and buy cattle, these are the places for meeting with friends and relatives from distant villages. These are the places where two families of camel traders unite through finalization of marriage. These are the places where they show off their assets in terms of camel.
They are Rabaries by community. Tradining camels is their main livelihood. There are many cattle fairs in India where camels are traded besides the only camel breeding farm in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Pushkar is the largest camel fair in India. Almost every camel traders come to Pushkar for business.
Over the fortnight leading up to the full moon of Kartika month (late Oct/early Nov), villagers from the desert regions of western India come to Pushkar for the famous Kartik Purnima festival and camel-trading fair.
There are mainly two types of traders in Pushkar—some are the direct breeders who sell the camels in the fair preferably In wholesale whereas the other groups are basically traders from whom the villagers can buy cattle in small numbers.
To the camel traders, the fair is not only the place for business, it also gives them the opportunity for meeting relatives, friends from distant villages. It also serves as the place for marriage proposal and fixation within their community.
During the fair the entire ground transform into a colony of varied religions and community. Along with traders there come other business people as ancillary. There come the money lenders, hawkers with daily necessity items, the food vendors.
The camel traders come to Pushkar with about 50000 camels all together. Many big traders come with about 70 to 100 camels where as there are traders who bring only one camel to sell in the fair. Not that all the traders sell up to their expectation. Normally the price of the camel vary from Rs. 25000 to Rs. 40000 but may vary depending upon the demand and supply gap. To the villagers demand for female camel is more as camel milk is becoming more popular. The also consider camel to be the asset and symbol of prosperity. Women in the family play the main role in choosing the camel and once bought the camel are treated as the family member. To the people of Rajasthan , camel is the sign of well being hand prosperity similar to cow to the Hindus.
All through the year there are number of cattle fairs in Rajasthan and adjoining areas of Gujarat. Some traders move continuously from one fair to another with their cattle. Camel traders mainly come from Nagaur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Barmer Pali and some small villages of Western Rajasthan.
Though primary objective of coming to fair is to sell and buy cattle, these are the places for meeting with friends and relatives from distant villages. These are the places where two families of camel traders unite through finalization of marriage. These are the places where they show off their assets in terms of camel.
