A crossroads town and its animals
Look at a map of the old caravan routes across the Thar and Nagaur sits where several of them meet. Animals and the people who traded them have been coming here for as long as anyone can remember.
Tractors and trucks have changed the fair, and camels come in smaller numbers each decade. But the fair goes on, and in the early morning, among the fires and the animals, it looks remarkably like the fairs painted by artists of the Jodhpur court two centuries ago.
An old Marwar town: Nagaur lies halfway between Jodhpur and Bikaner, with a fort, Ahhichatragarh, that dates to the early twelfth century.
Wealth on four legs: caravans of camels carried grain, salt, cloth and spices across the desert, and farmers of the dry plains bred cattle and camels for sale across north India.
Facts to know
- When
- Bright half of Magh, usually late January or February
- Where
- The fairground outside Nagaur
- Lasts
- About a week
- Best day
- The first trading days, from dawn
- Book by
- Three to four months ahead
- Good for
- Photographers, repeat visitors, lovers of rural life
- An ancient fair: it grew up to match the trade, and has been held every winter for longer than written records can easily trace.
- The Nagauri bullock: tall, pale, light-footed and fast, a draught animal that could pull a plough through sandy soil or a cart across the desert for days.
- Buyers from afar: farmers from far beyond Rajasthan came for pairs of them, and a good pair was the pride of a household.
- Old dealers' stories: they will still tell you, at great length, about a bullock their grandfather sold, how much it fetched, and to whom.
- Baba Ramdev: the fair is dedicated to this fourteenth-century Tanwar Rajput saint of western Rajasthan, one of the most loved folk deities of the desert, a champion of the poor and the outcast.
- Two faiths, one saint: Hindus honour him as an incarnation of Krishna, and many Muslims as Ramshah Pir.
- His shrine: at Ramdevra, near Pokaran, which draws enormous crowds of pilgrims in the monsoon month of Bhadrapada.
- The fair's other name: the Ramdeoji Pashu Mela, the livestock fair of Ramdevji. Herders pray to him for their animals' health, and his image, a rider on a horse, is painted on carts, shrines and saddle cloths.
- What has changed: fewer farmers need draught bullocks, the Nagauri breed is far less common than it was, and rules on moving cattle out of the state have reduced outside buyers.
When the fair is held
The fair follows the moon and the farming year. It comes in the cold, bright weeks after the winter crops are sown.
The timing: each year in the bright half of Magh, which usually falls in late January or February, for about a week.
Early versus late: the busiest trading days are usually in the first part of the fair. The last days have more of the festival about them.
It moves: because the dates follow the lunar calendar, they shift by two or three weeks from one year to the next.
Facts to know
- Lunar month
- Bright half of Magh
- Usual window
- Late January or February
- Length
- About a week
- Busiest trading
- Usually the first part
- Days
- Low to mid twenties Celsius
- Dates
- We confirm them each year
- Our promise: we confirm the dates each year as soon as they are announced, and plan your journey to catch the trading days rather than the end.
- The weather: among the most comfortable weeks of the year in Marwar, sunny and pleasant by day, with cold nights, sometimes very cold in late January.
- The light: clear and low in the mornings, perfect for photographs of the animals and the fires.
- Read more: our guide to Rajasthan in February covers the month's other festivals, including the Jaisalmer Desert Festival around the full moon of the same month.
- A second fair: in the monsoon month of Bhadrapada, the Tejaji fair at Parbatsar, in the same district, honours Veer Tejaji, a folk hero worshipped as a protector against snakebite.
- Who it suits: it is hotter and much less visited, and we would only suggest it to guests who know India well.
Local tip
Plan for the trading days, not the end. The serious buyers are in town early, when the animals are fresh, and the last days are more festival than market.
The stars of the fair
You don't need to know anything about livestock to enjoy the Nagaur fair. By the end of a morning you will have opinions about bullocks.
Nagauri bullocks
The heart of the fair: tall, white or pale grey cattle with long faces, upright horns and a quick, springing walk.
- Dressed to sell: owners paint their horns, hang them with bells, beads and tassels, cover their backs with embroidered cloths and walk them up and down for buyers.
- How buyers judge: they look at the hooves, run a hand along the back, check the teeth and, above all, watch the animal move.
- Pairs: matched with great care. A well-matched pair is worth far more than two single bullocks.
Camels
Hundreds of them: groomed and decorated with silver, beads and woollen tassels.
- Who brings them: herders from across Marwar and Bikaner, with young animals for sale and working camels for trade. Some are dressed as carefully as at a festival.
- Races: on some days there are camel races.
- Read more: our journal on the camels of Rajasthan covers the breeds and the herders.
Marwari horses
The ears: famous, inward-curving, almost touching at the tips.
- The history: the horse of the Rathore cavalry, bred for endurance in the desert.
- At the fair: stallions and mares put through their paces, sometimes dancing to drums in the trained gait the breed is known for. Our journal on Marwari horses tells their story.
The other animals
- At the edges: goats, sheep and the occasional buffalo change hands, and dogs, chickens and children run everywhere.
- The herders: men of the Raika and other pastoral communities, who have lived with animals for generations, are among the most knowledgeable people you will ever meet.
Around the trading: the fair as a festival
Where animals are traded, everything an animal or its owner might need is sold too. The stalls are half the fun.
The equipment of desert life: bells of every size, ropes, halters and nose pegs, saddles and saddle cloths, leather whips and water bags, brass ornaments for horns and harnesses.
Craftsmen at work: blacksmiths shoe horses and mend tools, and women sell embroidered cloths and woven woollen tassels for camels.
For the families: stalls of bangles, cheap jewellery, cooking pots, sweets, toys and blankets for herders' families, who often camp at the fair for days.
Facts to know
- Spice to buy
- Nagauri methi, sold as kasuri methi
- Also grown
- Cumin and red chillies
- Stalls sell
- Bells, ropes, saddles, tassels
- Evenings
- Folk music and herders' fires
- A spice district: Nagaur is famous across India for Nagauri methi, a fragrant leafy fenugreek dried and sold as kasuri methi. Its farmers also grow cumin and red chillies.
- The red heaps: sacks of dried chillies, piled high, are one of the great sights of the fair, and their smell will follow you home.
- Afternoon and evening: the mood turns to entertainment, with folk musicians and dancers.
- Some years: races, tug-of-war, cattle and camel contests and a cultural programme organised by the tourism department.
- Around the fires: herders cook bajra rotis and dal, smoke, tell stories and sing in the evenings.
- Tea with a herder: if our guide knows the family, you may be offered tea. Sit with them for a while. It will be the conversation you remember.
Local tip
Buy a small bag of Nagauri methi to take home. It is the best fenugreek you will ever cook with.
A morning at the fair, hour by hour
The Nagaur fair belongs to the early morning. By noon the dust and heat rise, the buyers are resting and the best of it is over.
Facts to know
- Leave hotel
- In the dark, with chai
- Best light
- Before dawn and sunrise
- Animals on show
- Mid-morning
- Light goes flat
- By about eleven
- Afternoon
- The fort, or rest
Before dawn, the fires
Set out in the dark: with a flask of chai and warm layers.
- What you find: herders lighting fires, milking, feeding and watering their animals.
- The photographer's hour: smoke hangs low over the ground and the first light comes through it in long golden bars.
Sunrise, the trading begins
- Quiet deals: buyers walk the rows, and deals are often made with hands hidden under a cloth, signalling prices with fingers so nobody nearby can hear.
- Your role: our guide explains without interrupting. Never try to join in a negotiation.
Mid-morning, the animals on show
- On parade: owners walk and trot their bullocks and horses for inspection, and camels are paraded in their finery.
- Ask about pedigree: the best time to see the animals moving, and to ask an owner, through our guide, about his animal's line.
Late morning, the stalls
- Wander: the stalls of bells, ropes and spices, with a hot kachori or mirchi bada from a busy stall, and buy your methi.
- Time to go: by eleven the light is flat and the dust rising.
Midday, the fort
- Into town: drive into Nagaur for Ahhichatragarh and lunch, or return to your hotel to rest.
- The contrast: painted palaces and running fountains after the morning's dust.
Evening, if you stay
- Folk music: if there is an evening programme on your day, return for an hour.
- Otherwise: a night at the fort or at Khimsar, with dinner by a fire.
Nagaur's fort, the other reason to come
When the restorers arrived at Ahhichatragarh in the 1980s, not one of its fountains worked. Today about ninety of them run again.
Its rulers: begun in the early twelfth century, it later became a seat of Mughal governors and then of the Rathores of Jodhpur.
The builder of its beauty: Bakht Singh, a younger brother of the Jodhpur ruler in the eighteenth century, built most of its palaces, gardens and fountains.
The rescue: decaying by the late twentieth century, it was placed in 1985 in the care of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, which also runs Mehrangarh in Jodhpur.
Facts to know
- Name
- Ahhichatragarh, fort of the hooded cobra
- Begun
- Early twelfth century
- Size
- About 36 acres
- Restored by
- Mehrangarh Museum Trust, from 1985
- Award
- UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award, 2002
- Fountains working
- About ninety
- The restoration: a long project traced and restored its water system, its lime plaster and its painted rooms, and won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award in 2002.
- The murals: those of the Hadi Rani Mahal, with scenes of court life, music and love, are among the most important wall paintings in Rajasthan.
- The water gardens: a lesson in desert engineering.
- Seven gates: after a morning among the animals, walking through them into the calm courtyards feels like stepping into another century.
- A Sufi town: the dargah of Hamiduddin Nagori, a disciple of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, is one of the most important Sufi shrines in Rajasthan.
- A vegetarian saint: he lived as a farmer and became strictly vegetarian out of respect for his Hindu neighbours. The food served at his shrine is vegetarian still.
- Visiting the dargah: a short visit, head covered and shoes off, rounds off a day here.
Watching a working fair with respect
Nagaur is not staged for visitors, and that is exactly why we love it. It asks a little more care from us.
It is a market: people are buying and selling animals that are their livelihoods. Stay out of the way of negotiations and never offer an opinion on a price.
Ask before photographing: and never photograph a deal being struck. Many herders are delighted to be photographed with their animals if you ask first.
- Mind legs and horns: never stand directly behind a horse or a camel. Bullocks being walked for buyers move quickly.
- No handouts: don't give sweets, pens or money to children. It changes the fair for the next visitor and for the children.
- Dress for dust: modestly and practically, with closed shoes, long sleeves and a scarf. Women travellers will be more comfortable with arms and legs covered.
- Be honest about the animals: most are cared for well by owners who depend on them, but this is a livestock market and not every animal has an easy life.
- Our way: we visit with guides who know the herders, and we avoid anything that troubles us.
- Tea at a fire: if offered, accept it, drink it slowly and thank your host. It is a real welcome.
Where to stay for the fair
There are two ways to stay near the fair: inside the fort itself, or at a family fort nearby.
Few rooms: we book them as soon as you know your year, ideally three to four months ahead.
Facts to know
- Book rooms
- Three to four months ahead
- Inside the fort
- The Ranvas
- Nearby fort
- Khimsar, about 42 km away
- From Jodhpur
- About two and a half to three hours
- From Bikaner
- About two to two and a half hours
- Book earlier if: your dates also catch the World Sacred Spirit Festival, the Sufi music festival the Mehrangarh Museum Trust has held in the fort in February in past years.
- Compare: our guide to palace hotels covers the wider choices.
The Ranvas, inside Ahhichatragarh
What it is: the restored queens' palaces inside Nagaur fort, a group of interlocking havelis each with its own courtyard, now a small hotel.
- The magic: you walk the gardens after the day visitors leave and wake to peacocks. The fair is a short drive away.
- Our view: one of the most romantic places to sleep in Rajasthan.
Khimsar Fort
- What it is: Khimsar Fort, a Rathore fort built in 1523 about 42 kilometres from Nagaur, now a heritage hotel with a pool, gardens and a dune village nearby.
- As a base: under an hour from the fairground, excellent for two nights. See our Khimsar page.
From Jodhpur or Bikaner
The distances: about two and a half to three hours from Jodhpur, and two to two and a half from Bikaner.
- Our advice: a dawn visit from either means a very early start, so we usually suggest a night closer.
- City favourites: in Jodhpur, Umaid Bhawan Palace and RAAS Jodhpur. In Bikaner, Laxmi Niwas Palace.
Journeys that include the Nagaur fair
Nagaur sits on the road between Jodhpur and Bikaner, which makes it easy to fold into a desert journey.
The desert triangle
- The route: our desert triangle journey links Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner, and Nagaur is the natural stop between Jodhpur and Bikaner.
- In Magh: the fair turns that stop into a highlight.
With the Bikaner Camel Festival
- The timing: the Bikaner Camel Festival is held in January, so in a year when Magh falls early you can see both.
- The contrast: the city's celebration of the camel, then the working fair of the desert.
With the Desert Festival at Jaisalmer
- The timing: the Desert Festival falls around the full moon of Magh, at the end of the same lunar fortnight.
- A winter week: start at Nagaur and end in Jaisalmer for a fine journey through the Thar.
Village Rajasthan
- The journey: our village Rajasthan journey travels through rawlas, forts and farms, the world the fair belongs to.
- Add more: combine it with Rohet or Osian for more of rural Marwar.
On horseback
- For horse lovers: if the Marwari horses win your heart, our horse safaris ride through Marwar on the same breed, with owners who look after them well.
The people who walk the animals here
Some of the herders at Nagaur have walked for days to reach the fair, sleeping beside their animals under the winter stars.
When you sit at a herder's fire and he shows you his bullocks, you are seeing a skill and a way of life that may not survive another generation in this form. Many families still keep animals because it is who they are as much as how they live.
Who comes: farmers, traders and the pastoral communities of the desert, whose lives have been bound to animals for as long as their families remember.
- The Raikas: also called Rebaris, their traditions tie them closely to the camel. They say their ancestors were created by Shiva to look after the camels of Parvati.
- Raika dress: men in white with bright red or saffron turbans, women in heavy silver and dark skirts.
- Other communities: they come with cattle, sheep and goats, each with its own dress, songs and way of tying a turban. Our guides tell them apart at a glance, and by the end of a morning you will start to as well.
- A changing life: grazing land has shrunk as farms and canals have spread, demand for draught animals has fallen, and young people leave for jobs in the towns.
- How to help: take these people seriously. Ask about their animals, listen, buy something they make, and pay fairly for anything you ask of them.
- What we never do: stage encounters or ask families to perform.
- Read more: our ethical animal encounters page and our journal on the Rabari herders explain how we think about this.
Who will love the fair, and who won't
Nagaur is our favourite fair in Rajasthan. It is also not for everyone, and we would rather say so.
India at work: you will love it if you enjoy seeing India at work rather than on show, like animals and early mornings, and are happy to stand in the dust with a cup of tea and simply watch.
Photographers: they find it extraordinary, especially in the first hour of light.
- Repeat visitors: travellers who have already seen Pushkar, or want a fair without crowds of visitors, will find it a revelation.
- The curious: anyone interested in rural life, crafts and the desert's pastoral communities will learn more here in a morning than in a week of reading.
- Less suited: those who want a festival programme with seating, shade and a stage, or who are uncomfortable around a livestock market.
- The reality: no grandstands, few facilities, rough ground, and the best hours are before breakfast.
- The alternative: the Bikaner Camel Festival gives you the decorated camels in a more organised setting, and the fort at Nagaur is beautiful at any time of year.
What we tell friends before Nagaur
Small things make a big difference at a desert fair.
Wear layers: the morning is cold, and by eleven you will want only a shirt.
Dust: bring a scarf or mask, and sunglasses.
- Small notes: for tea, snacks and a bag of methi or chillies.
- Closed shoes: the ground is uneven and the animals have been there before you.
- Leave by noon: spend the afternoon at the fort or at your hotel.
- Ask early about dates: the fair moves every year, and the busiest trading days come first.
Local tip
Go early. The first two hours of light are the best of the fair, for the animals, the people and photographs, and by noon you should be on your way to the fort.