9 Big and Famous Fairs in India

India is famous for its kind of festivals and fairs, most of the fair held in India are either religious fairs or celebration of change of seasons. A number of big fairs are held at important places of pilgrimage, Khumbh Mela the largest gathering in the world held at three Holi cities of India. Kolkata Book Fair is the world’s third largest annual conglomeration of books and world’s largest non-trade book fair. The famous Sonepur Cattle Fair near Patna is the biggest cattle fair in Asia and world’s largest animal fair.

India is a land of fairs and festivals, every month there is festival with fair held at different regions of India, Some of the big religious fairs in India are Pushkar Fair, Baneshwar Fair Gangasagar Fair, Tarnetar Mela, Chaitre Chaudash mela, Nagaur fair, and many monsoon festivals or fairs.

Khumbh Mela: Kumbh Mela is a very big fair and the largest gathering of Hindu pilgrims, celebrated every twelve years at four holy places Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. The grand event held by rotation, on the banks of the sacred river Godavari, Kshipra, Yamuna and The Gange.

During this big fair Hindus pilgrims gather at the sacred Ganges river for holy bath. The major attractions of this biggest religious fair are the procession of Naga Sadhu “Holy Men of India” and procession of Akharas marching

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Sonepur Mela: The Sonepur Cattle Fair held (November) on full moon day in Bihar, on the confluence of river Ganges and Gandak. Sonepur fair is also known as the Harihar Chhetra Mela,The Sonepur Fair is the only one of its kind in the world.

Haathi Bazaar is one of the major attraction of the fairs,where elephants are lined up for sale, Apart from this all breeds of buffaloes, donkeys, ponies and birds are also available for sale. The largest animal fair in Indian attracts peoples from all around the Asia.

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Pushkar Fair: Pushkar Fair is one of the world’s largest camel fairs, held (October-November) in the oldest city of Rajasthan “Pushkar”. The Pushkar camel fair attracts large number of visitors from all around the world, especially from Israel. The biggest fair of Rajasthan held on the banks of the Pushkar Lake, It is also an important tourist attraction. The competitions such as the matka phod and longest mustache and the Hot air balloon are the few very special experience to enjoy

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Hemis Gompa Fair: The Hemis Gompa festival is a religious fair and one of the most auspicious Occasions for the of Buddhist community in India. The grand fair held in the month of January/February at the world’s famous Hemis Gompa “the biggest Buddhist monastery” located in Ladakh. The famous Hemis Gompa is surrounded by mountain rocks and concealed inside the Hemis National Park

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Kolayat Fair: Kolayat Fair also known as Kapil Muni Fair is the another largest cattle fair held (September-October) in Bikaner district of the Royal state Rajasthan. The major attraction of the fair is when thousands of devotees take a sacred dip and put several lit oil lamps to float in the calm waters of the Kolayat lake. The Royal state of India also host Desert Festival of Jaisalmer,Nagaur fair and the most famous camel Festival in Bikaner.

Chandrabhaga Mela: Chandrabhaga Mela is also known as Magha Saptam Mela, A grand fair is held (February) at Khandagiri near Bhubaneswar Orissa. The important fair and festival is celebrated every year during the full moon phase at the sacred Chandrabhaga River. During the seven day fair thousands of pilgrims gather to bathe in the holy Chandrabhaga River. The famous Konarak Sun Temple, Math and Archaeological Museum are the best sightseeing of the tribal state

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Gangasagar Mela: Gangasagar pilgrimage and fair is the second largest congregation of mankind after the holy Kumbha Mela. The big religious fair held annually where the holy river Gange meet the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal. During the time of fairs and festivals thousands people come for holy bath

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Ambubasi Fair: The Ambubasi Fair is one of the numerous religious fairs and festivals celebrated across India. The three-day traditional fair is organized every year during monsoon in the Kamakhya temple at Guwahati, Assam. Tens of thousands of devotees from different parts of the country thronged the Kamakhya Temple for the three-day traditional fair.

Baneshwar fair: The Baneshwar fair is most popular tribal fair held in Dungarpur district in Rajasthan during the month of February. This is a religious fair with simple and traditional rituals to worship the Lord Shiva. This fair is the center of attraction of a large number of tribals from the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh.