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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.
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. Day one of the camel festival
begins with a procession of bedecked camels in all
their fineries. The colorful camel pageant is
followed by camel dance performances. Fireworks
light up the sky at dusk. Day two of the camel
festival sees an array of camel race events and
other cultural performances. |
