There were far fewer western tourists at the festival in Bundi than at the more famous Pushkar fair. The relatively small number of tourist meant that the 20 or so foreign tourists who were there were given the “royal” treatment. On the first day of the festival there was a parade that wound through the city finishing at the parade ground. The parade was even bigger than the one in Pushkar, with several bands, dancers, camel carts, carriages, and an elephant. There were also the requisite horse and camel races. If anyone was wondering camels are not particularly fast even when they are racing. After the races, the foreign tourists were invited to a free Rajastani meal, with the other dignitaries in town. Everyone was given a garland and the men were given saffres (what they call the turban), and the mayor of the town went around feeding the tourist a sweet, some sort of traditional honor. In the evenings at various bodies of water in the area there were deepans, pujas where gee lamps are set afloat on the water, as well as cultural performances. It was a very nice and much more intimate festival than the massive affair at Pushkar, although lacking the thousands of camels.
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