North IndiaCommunity FestivalBrahmaHindi · Rajasthan
The Pushkar Mela is Rajasthan's great Kartika fair, held at the sacred Pushkar lake near Ajmer in the days leading to Kartik Purnima (November). It joins a major pilgrimage — bathing in the lake and darshan at the rare Brahma temple — with one of the world's most famous camel and livestock fairs.
When: The days of bright Kartika leading up to and culminating on Kartik Purnima (usually November); the livestock fair peaks in the earlier days, the snan on the Purnima
Where: Pushkar, beside its sacred lake in the Aravalli hills near Ajmer, Rajasthan
Deity: Brahma — Pushkar's Jagatpita Brahma temple is the most celebrated of the very few dedicated to him — with the lake itself revered as Tirtha Raj
Observance: Snan at the lake's ghats on Kartik Purnima, darshan of Brahma, deep-daan of lamps on the water, and the great camel and cattle fair with Rajasthani folk life in full colour
Tradition holds that Pushkar was born from a flower. When the demon Vajranabha was slain, Brahma's lotus — pushpa — fell from his hand — kara — to earth, and where its petals touched the desert, water sprang up: the lake of Pushkar. Brahma then chose the spot for a great yajna on Kartik Purnima. The tale continues that when his consort Savitri was delayed, the yajna's hour could not wait, and Brahma wed the maiden Gayatri to complete the rite; Savitri's anger, tradition says, is why Brahma is worshipped almost nowhere else on earth — but at Pushkar always. The lake is honoured as Tirtha Raj, the king of pilgrimage places, and a bath in its waters during the five days ending on Kartik Purnima is held to carry singular merit. The fair grew up around the pilgrims, as fairs in Rajasthan always have — where the faithful gather, so do the herdsmen, traders and musicians.
Pilgrimage and fair together
The mela runs on two intertwined rhythms. Through the earlier days the sands outside town fill with camels, horses and cattle in their thousands — washed, clipped, ornamented and traded — while the fairground rounds out with camel races and beauty contests, wrestling, folk music and dance, giant ferris wheels and the bazaars of a true desert carnival. As Kartik Purnima approaches, the religious tide rises: pilgrims stream to the lake's many ghats for the sacred bath, queue for darshan at the Jagatpita Brahma temple, and on the full-moon evening set lamps afloat until the water is ringed with fire. Sadhus and kalpavasis keep the whole of Kartika at the lake. The two faces are one festival — the herdsman who sells his camels bathes on the Purnima like everyone else — and it is this weave of commerce, devotion and desert festivity that has made Pushkar famous far beyond Rajasthan.
The Pushkar Mela from Ottawa and Canada
The mela belongs to one lake in the Rajasthan desert; from Canada, the honest ways to touch it are pilgrimage and the day itself. Kartik Purnima is a pan-Hindu observance, and an Ottawa family can keep it at home — a morning bath with remembrance of the tirthas, a lamp lit in the evening, deep-daan in a bowl of water on the balcony if the November cold allows — while thinking of the lakhs at the lake. The full moon of Kartika is computed for Ottawa on this site's calendar. For those planning travel, the mela falls conveniently in November: pilgrim-minded visitors should aim for the closing Purnima days for the snan, while those drawn to the camel fair should arrive earlier in the week. Book far ahead — the small town fills completely — and remember that the ghats ask the same respect as any temple: shoes off, photography restrained, and the bath taken as worship, not spectacle.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
Why is Brahma worshipped at Pushkar when he has so few temples?
Tradition holds that after Brahma's Kartik Purnima yajna at the lake, his consort Savitri — angered that the rite was completed with Gayatri in her place — declared he would be worshipped nowhere but Pushkar. The town's Jagatpita Brahma temple is thus the most celebrated of the handful of Brahma temples anywhere.
When should one visit — for the camel fair or the holy bath?
They peak at different ends of the same week. The livestock trading and folk festivities are fullest in the earlier days of the mela; the pilgrimage culminates with the snan on Kartik Purnima itself. Visitors wanting both should plan to span the transition.
What makes bathing at Pushkar on Kartik Purnima special?
Pushkar lake is revered as Tirtha Raj, the king of tirthas, and tradition holds that a bath there during the closing days of bright Kartika — above all on the Purnima, the anniversary of Brahma's yajna — carries the merit of many pilgrimages combined.
Source: Living tirtha tradition of Pushkar, Rajasthan. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.