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Camel races, fire dances mesmerise tourists in Bikaner
by Jethmal Sharma
Ladera
(Rajasthan): 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 oftourists 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.
-Jan
14, 2009
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