Camel races, fire dances mesmerise tourists in Bikaner

Unique fire-walking dances and the race of the ships of the desert enchanted tourists at the Camel Festival held in Ladera village in Bikaner.

Ladera (Rajasthan), Jan 14 : Unique fire-walking dances and the race of the 'ships of the desert' enchanted tourists at the Camel Festival held in Ladera village in Bikaner.

The three-day annual camel extravaganza, which began on January 10, attracted thousands from tourists from all over the globe.

A variety of events involving camel dance, camel decoration competitions and camel fur cutting competitions were presented during the fair which the tourists termed as unique.

"This is my first time to Bikaner Camel Festival and it is fantastic. I have never seen anything like this before. I travelled quite a few places, but this is unique," said Jason, a tourist from UK.

The other attraction of the fair was the fire dance in which the members of Rajasthan's Sidh community danced barefoot, on embers of coal fire. This extraordinary event stunned almost every spectator.

"The camel festival and the fire dance are truly unbelievable. I have never seen anything like this before. A man walked through the fire. It is absolutely unbelievable," said Ambrino, another tourist from England.

On their part, the members of the Sidh community said that fire dance keeps them trim and fit.

"For the last five hundred years, our community of Sidhs has been doing fire dance. This helps us to keep fit and fine," said Raghunath, a member of Sidh community.

Situated around 320 kilometres from Jaipur, Bikaner has been a major trade hub since the sixteenth century.

It boasts of a number of places of tourist attraction including forts, palaces, temples and museums apart from the Centre of Camel Research instituted by the Government of India. By Jethmal Sharma

ANI