The Nagaur Festival is held every year in the period between January-February in the quaint Rajput town of Nagaur. The Nagaur festival is essentially a cattle fair and every year close to 75,000 camels, bullocks and horses are traded. In fact the sheer volume of trading is astonishing to the first time visitors. To add spice to the festivities, fun events like tug-of-war, camel and bullock races and cockfights along with enchanting folk music of Jodhpur add a surreal charm to the whole festival. One of the most amazing feature of Nagaur Festival is the vibrant red-chilly market that is exclusively set up at the festival premises. By all accounts this red-chilly market or "mirchi bazaar" as it is popularly referred to in the local parlance is the largest in Asia. The Nagaur Festival is organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry in co-operation with the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan. As per the latest statistical records, approximately 80,000 cattle owners participate in this festival with more than 2,10,000 cattles being traded. At the festival there is fierce bargaining as far as buying and selling of cattle is concerned. The seller skillfully enumerates the merits and intrinsic worth of the animal until the buyer is fully convinced about these merits and strikes a deal. |
