Rajasthan is at its colourful best during fairs and festivals. There are numerous fairs throughout the year in the state, which brighten the otherwise hard and dreary lives of the villagers in the deserts. One of the most popular and colourful fairs of the Thar desert is the Pushkar fair, which begins on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi and goes on for five days till Kartik Purnima. The time of the fair coincides with the bright half of the moon during the months of October and November. The lake at Pushkar is one of the most sacred in India. From time immemorial, people have been gathering here annually during the month of Kartik to pay obeisance to Lord Brahma.
