For eleven months of the year the Mela ground west of town is simply sand: a wide, empty stretch of dune and scrub where a few camels graze and a stadium sits unused. Then, in the Hindu month of Kartik — October or November — it becomes the largest camel and livestock fair on earth.
Perhaps 50,000 animals and several hundred thousand people converge here across roughly a week that culminates on Kartik Purnima, the full moon. Traders come from across Rajasthan and beyond to buy and sell camels, horses and cattle; alongside the trading there is a full programme of competitions, folk performances, a Ferris wheel and, in recent years, hot-air balloons over the dunes at dawn.
Top things to do at Pushkar Mela Ground
Be on the ground before 8 a.m.
The actual trading happens at dawn, in cool air and low light. By eleven the serious business is over and the ground belongs to the crowds and the heat.
Watch the competitions
The stadium programme includes camel decoration, camel racing, moustache and turban competitions, and matches between local and visitor teams — a great deal of fun and free to watch.
Go up in a balloon
Hot-air balloon operators fly over the fairground at dawn during the fair. It is the single best vantage point on the whole spectacle.
Visit outside fair season too
Even in March the ground is worth the walk: open dunes at the edge of town, camel herds, and an easy sunset without a climb.
How to get to Pushkar Mela Ground
- On foot: about 15 minutes west of the bazaar. During the fair the whole route is lined with stalls and the walk is half the experience.
- By rickshaw: cheap and easy, though during Mela week traffic is restricted and walking is often faster.
- From Jaipur or Ajmer: two-day fair packages and day trips run through the week; they handle the transport and — crucially in November — the bed.
- The fair moves with the lunar calendar, so it lands in late October or November depending on the year. Check the exact dates before booking anything.
- Accommodation in Pushkar is booked out months ahead for Mela week and rates rise several times over. Book early, or stay in Ajmer and travel in.
- Dust is constant and the light is harsh from mid-morning. Bring a scarf, sunglasses and more water than you think you need.
Best tours & tickets for Pushkar Mela Ground
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to enjoy Pushkar Mela Ground and its surroundings:
Full-day trip from €62 From Jaipur: Pushkar Temple Town Day Trip with Camel Safari
If Pushkar has to fit into one day of a Rajasthan itinerary, this is the shape that day should take. You are collected from your Jaipur hotel, driven the roughly three hours west, and given the two things Pushkar does better than anywhere else: the temple-and-ghat circuit around the holy lake, and a camel ride out into the sand at the town’s edge. Lunch and shopping time in the bazaar sit in between. You are back in Jaipur the same evening, which makes it the best-value way to see Pushkar without moving hotels.
- Door-to-door day trip from Jaipur by private air-conditioned car
- The Brahma Temple, Pushkar Lake and the ghats with a guide
- Camel safari through the dunes on the edge of town
Multi-day trip from €317 From Jaipur: 2-Day Pushkar Camel Fair Experience
The Camel Fair is not a day trip. The fairground is at its best before eight in the morning and again after five, and everything in between is heat, dust and crowds — which is exactly why staying the night changes the experience completely. This two-day trip from Jaipur handles the one thing that is genuinely difficult about Mela week: a bed. Rooms in Pushkar are booked out months ahead and prices multiply, so having accommodation and transport bundled is worth far more in November than the same package would be in March.
- Two days at the Pushkar Camel Fair, including an overnight stay
- The livestock ground at dawn — the hour the traders work
- Fairground competitions, folk music and the Kartik Purnima crowds
