In Pics: A Piece of Pushkar

What brings a budget tourist to India? The mystic charm of Benares and Mathura, the romance of the Taj, the Kumbh (think Catherine Zeta-Jones) and maybe the contraband stuff available in the hills.

Pushkar has none of this. Yet they throng this little town adjacent to Ajmer, in Rajasthan.

Of course, there is the Brahma temple in Pushkar, purportedly the only one in the world. But it is not the primary attraction for the visitors from overseas. They love to walk its only street, which is lined with shops selling kurtas, filigree and trinkets.


They frequent the many cafes here. Many of these cafes are on rooftops and offer what the Indian palate would find bland. They cannot serve alcohol or meat.

And yet they come.

Once a year, though, the tourists in Pushkar are outnumbered and overshadowed by cattle. A large patch of sandy land is designated as the fair ground. People come from the farthest corner of Rajasthan to sell camels and horses. They pitch their ragged tent, unpack their utensils, dig a hole in the ground to light a cooking fire, and the shop is up.

The buyers come from all over the country. The shiny large tents, with SUVs parked next to them, house stud farm owners from Maharashtra and the rich kids from Haryana listening to their adrenaline.