The Rajasthani’s love for colour and joyous celebrations is proved by the elaborate rituals and the gay abandon with which he surrenders himself to the numerous fairs and festivals of the region. In addition to the festivals celebrated by the Hindus, Muslims and others, there are also the traditional fairs.
There are animal fairs, there are religious fairs and there are fairs to mark the changing seasons. Infact, celebrations occur almost round the year and are a splendid opportunity for the visitor to gain an insight into the life of the Rajasthani. Other than the traditional fairs, recently established festivals which involve elephants, camel races, puppet shows, folk dances and music, camel races, cock and bull fights, buying and selling of cattle, colorful clothes have been specially organised for the tourists |
| The delightful
and colourful bazaars of Rajasthan still have the distinct easy-going
atmosphere, typical of the medieval times. Nothing much seems
to have changed till today - not even the commodities in the
market.The numerous fairs and festivals in this sparsely populated
state are essentially an opportunity for people from far and
wide to converge and shop. In the electrically charged cacophonic
atmosphere, one can pick up exotic trinkets, beads, bangles,
old tribal silver jewellery, a range of handicrafts and of course,
animals. This is true of the towns and cities as well. Chaotic
and noisy, people jostling against each other, stray cows butting
in, lots of bargaining....
In the old days, the bazaars were segmented product-wise. An
entire lane of lac bangle makers, a market of utensil makers
and so on. Although a few stray shops have cropped up, the tradition
continues to date.
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