Rajasthan, one of the most charming states of India is known for its rich cultural heritage. You can have a glimpse of Rajasthan’s cultural heritage in colourful fairs and festivals of the state. Rajasthani people celebrate a number of festivals all through the year. Amongst the festivals of Rajasthan, the Desert festival of Jaisalmer is very popular. Every year in the month of January and February, the Desert Festival is held in the desert of Jaisalmer. During the Desert Festival, the golden sands of Jaisalmer becomes lively with magnificient colours, music and clamour of the festival.
Sponsored by the Rajasthan State Tourism Corporation, this festival i
s a rejoyous celebration of the traditional performing arts and creative crafts of Rajasthan. Set against the picturesue backdrop of the massive Jaisalmer Fort, the Desert Festival offers endless visual feast to visitors. The common folk dressed in colourful apparels, use to dance and sing the verses from the ancient ballads of valour, romance and tragedy.
Go for Shopping of Souvenior
At Desert Festival you get a huge range of traditional Rajasthani commodities. You can buy a variety of items in the fair and keep them as a momento for lifetime. Some of the must buy include exquisite embroidered skirts, hand-woven shawls, rugs, carvings on wood and stone, camel decorations, embroidered leather bags, ethnic silver jewelry and terracotta.
Enjoy the interesting Events
Most outstanding features of this desert festival are the game shows by snake-charmers, acrobats and fun shows by puppeteers. The camel festival is a special attraction of the festival, in which camels take part in race and other competitions. The show of "Blood, Blade and Romance" on the sand dunes recreates the environement legendary past. Besides, the Camel tattoo show of the Border Security Force, is the most spectacular show of the festival.
Another interesting event is the moustache and turban tying competitions, which demonstrate the conservation of the century old glorious honourable tradition of Rajasthan. To keep the moustache twisted upwards means to sustain the pride intact, while dropping moustaches convey the notio
n of complete surrender. Tying a turban is not only an intriguing tradition but an art as well. There are numerous patterns of tying turbans and different colours of the turbans describe the caste, region and also the occasion.
In the evening, people enjoy the musical shows and dance. At this time, the vibrating sound of the drums can be heard from long distance. Nearly all the variations of performing arts of are presented in the evening. The festival continues upto late night and the number of spectators swells up too as the night grows on. The final day of the festival takes place usually on the full moon day, when the sand dunes turn silvery coloured in the moonlit.
Visit the Festival
On the whole, Desert Festival is not only a festival, its a visual representation of Rajasthan’s rich culture and traditions. Due to its unique feature, the festival draws lakhs of tourists from Indian and abroad as well. Here, I have desribed only an overview of the festival, better you participate in the festival on your own to experience much more. So, next time you don’t forget to pay a visit to the Desert Festival of Jaisalmer.
Sponsored by the Rajasthan State Tourism Corporation, this festival i
s a rejoyous celebration of the traditional performing arts and creative crafts of Rajasthan. Set against the picturesue backdrop of the massive Jaisalmer Fort, the Desert Festival offers endless visual feast to visitors. The common folk dressed in colourful apparels, use to dance and sing the verses from the ancient ballads of valour, romance and tragedy.Go for Shopping of Souvenior
At Desert Festival you get a huge range of traditional Rajasthani commodities. You can buy a variety of items in the fair and keep them as a momento for lifetime. Some of the must buy include exquisite embroidered skirts, hand-woven shawls, rugs, carvings on wood and stone, camel decorations, embroidered leather bags, ethnic silver jewelry and terracotta.
Enjoy the interesting Events
Most outstanding features of this desert festival are the game shows by snake-charmers, acrobats and fun shows by puppeteers. The camel festival is a special attraction of the festival, in which camels take part in race and other competitions. The show of "Blood, Blade and Romance" on the sand dunes recreates the environement legendary past. Besides, the Camel tattoo show of the Border Security Force, is the most spectacular show of the festival.
Another interesting event is the moustache and turban tying competitions, which demonstrate the conservation of the century old glorious honourable tradition of Rajasthan. To keep the moustache twisted upwards means to sustain the pride intact, while dropping moustaches convey the notio
n of complete surrender. Tying a turban is not only an intriguing tradition but an art as well. There are numerous patterns of tying turbans and different colours of the turbans describe the caste, region and also the occasion.In the evening, people enjoy the musical shows and dance. At this time, the vibrating sound of the drums can be heard from long distance. Nearly all the variations of performing arts of are presented in the evening. The festival continues upto late night and the number of spectators swells up too as the night grows on. The final day of the festival takes place usually on the full moon day, when the sand dunes turn silvery coloured in the moonlit.
Visit the Festival
On the whole, Desert Festival is not only a festival, its a visual representation of Rajasthan’s rich culture and traditions. Due to its unique feature, the festival draws lakhs of tourists from Indian and abroad as well. Here, I have desribed only an overview of the festival, better you participate in the festival on your own to experience much more. So, next time you don’t forget to pay a visit to the Desert Festival of Jaisalmer.
9 comments:
Hi Sameer! As I read your piece on the Desert Festival, a series of images starts flashing across the screen of my mind. I quite enjoyed the moments at the festival during my last visit to Jaisalmer. Particularly, the tying of the 10-yard-long Rajasthani turban and participating in the tug-of-war contests with locals are experiences I cherish even to this day. And, the camel parade by the jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) was simply mind blowing!
Salam Sameer, it's a fact that rajasthan is a land of various colourful festivals, which are known for providing a glimpse of rich culture and traditions. I have heard a lot about the desert festival of jaisalmer and your blog provided me some interesting information about the events organized during the festival. Next time I will try to participate in the festival.
Hi, I think it's going to be great fun being a part of this festival.
Can you please provide me the exact date of desert festival in 2008?
Hi Cathy,
As far as I know the Desert Festival 2008 is going to continue from 19th February till the 21st.
Steve, as u've already got d smack of desert festival, cultivate d memories like me sitting far from d spot. Ohhhhhh!!!!!! steve, i misssss d moments.....
You haven't explained 'the most spectacular show fo the festival'- Camel Tatto Show of BSF. What is it all about? Pls elaborate.
I have heard of the desert festival of Jaisalmer a lot, about the many events, the shopping opportunities and a one stop peek into the rich culture of Rajasthan n ur article has provided me with some helpful information that i needed to know before i make plans for being a part of the festival
Really good one keeping with the spirits of the festival.
In a nutshell I would say that this page is wonderfully compiled with information on all aspects of the Desert festival. So, great work Sameer as I understand that u must must have done a lot of research work before writing the page. Congrats!
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