Festival Tours in Rajasthan
  
The city of Bikaner is an exercise in architecture. If ever beauty
has bloomed in a desert, it has been at Bikaner. Bikaner rises from the desert
like a mirage, a complex town of sandstone colored turrets, cupolas, arched windows,
balconies and stone screen work in a delicate lattice style. Just beyond the town
lie sand dunes, vast endless stretches of an arid desert, made to bloom wherever
there is water. One gapes in awe at the annual Camel Festival which
is held every year in the month of January. The festival is organized by the Department
of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan and attracts thousands of tourists who take
part in the festival in a spirit of joi-de-vivre. Although it is an
exclusive Camel Festival, traditional Rajasthani folk dance and music add to the
charm of this enchanting festival including of course the enthralling Fire Dance.
The festival provides tourists with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to see some of the most elegant camels who charm them by their graceful strides
and swaying gently on the yielding sands, literally duplicating the motion of
a sea liner. The festival is held in open sandy land and needless to
say, there is no dearth of that in Bikaner. The festival starts in the right earnest
with an elegant Camel Parade wherein the camels are decorated in all their finery.
There are a variety of contests like the best-dressed camel, the camel with the
best haircut to name just a few. One can also experience the fine art of camel
milking. One of the unique feature of the Camel Festival is that guests are served
with authentic desert sweets made out of the purest of camel milk. The
evenings are a riot of colors and visitors are entertained by distinguished folk
musicians and dancers of Bikaner. The festival culminates with a spectacular fire
work display which lights up the city of Bikaner. .
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