Jaisalmer Desert Festival

The Desert Festival is organized in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, usually in the month of January or February. The duration of the festival is three days and it comes to an end on Poornima, the full moon day. The main purpose of the Rajasthan Desert Festival is to display the rich and colorful culture of the state. Dressed in vibrant and colorful attire, the people of Rajasthan dance to the tunes lingering ballads of heroism, romance and tragedy of the local heroes.

The major attractions of the Desert Festival of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan include snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats, folk performers, etc. Especially, the Gair and Fire dancers, in their vibrant and colorful costumes, capture your heart. However, amongst all these, the ship of the desert, camel does not loses its special place. Apart from the camel rides that are quite popular, camels take part in a number of events. Of them, the most famous and unique ones are camel polo and camel dance.

Other events include the turban tying competition and a display of the most glorious moustaches. Turbans and mustaches are deemed to be the symbols of honor in the state of Rajasthan. Then, there is a Mr. Desert contest that further adds to the enjoyment. With the fascinating Jaisalmer Fort and the sand dunes serving as the backdrop, the celebrations gain an added advantage. There are also brilliant performances by the folk artists, dancing elegantly to the tunes of the folk music. Traditional handicrafts of Rajasthan are also traded at the fair.

History of Desert Festival
Basically the Desert festival of the Sand dunes of Rajasthan is basically organized to attract tourists from all over the world by ‘The Tourism Department of Rajasthan’ and to uplift the cultural heritage of Rajasthan. The festival is truly an extravaganza and indeed attracts millions of tourists to the city of the ‘Golden Fort’-Jaisalmer. It is a fact that the tourists who are from outside India are significantly targeted to visit to this festival and see the beauty of the cultural traditions of the state. And factually these foreign tourists love to see the glimpses of the culture of India –especially Rajasthan through various performances and competitions that are organized presenting as important part of this festival. So, in these three days the tourists can collect the memoirs of their experience of these performances that are the presentation of the colorful culture of Rajasthan.

There is another background of the festival which is inspired by the Hindu Mythology. It is believed that Lord Krishna once said to Arjuna that one of the future rulers of the Yadav clan will built his kingdom on the Trikuta Hills and his words came true when Rana Jaisal founded the Golden Fort as his kingdom on the hills and named his kingdom as Jaisalmer. And this is the celebration which cannot be forgotten as the villagers and the local people dress in their best costumes and sing folk songs to welcome the festival with open arms and enthusiasm. They wait for this festival as soon as the winter arrives and the adieu the season with a note of celebration of their culture.