The local train, boarded before dawn, reaches the sleepy little Indian village of Tilwara around 8:30 in the morning overcrowded with passengers. Even the rooftops of the train cars are full of people. For awhile, the small station is all movement. Then the train departs, the passengers disperse, and the calm of the countryside returns.
Crowds are arriving at the village for the annual Mallinathji Animal Fair of Tilwara, which commemorates Rawal Mallinath, a 14th Century Rajput prince who is remembered in local ballads for his bravery and undaunted resistance to invading Muslim hordes. He was venerated as Siddha Yogi–one who has achieved perfect knowledge–in his later years. The picturesque festival is held annually according to the traditional Hindu calendar from the 11th day of the dark half of the fifth month, Phalgun, to the 11th day of the bright half of the sixth month, Chaitra.
The fair`s origin can be traced to the time of Mallinath himself, when people from far and near flocked to pay him homage. After his death, devotees continued gathering at his shrine, and the first regular fair was organized in 1593. Today it among the largest fairs held in Rajasthan, a state in northwestern India that borders on Pakistan. Tilwara is between the cities of Jodhpur and Barmer.
Outside the train station a number of ladas–camel-drawn carts–are waiting to take the passengers the three kilometers to the fair. Half a rupee per person, about five cents, is the tariff. But sturdy village folk, carrying bulging bundles and bags, move ahead on foot at a brisk pace, leaving the ladas behind. The terrain is an uneven arid wasteland interspersed with stunted, thorny vegetation. Here and there are typical conical huts called dhani, surrounded by low mud walls. Women watch from the doorways, as if through half-drawn veils.
While train passengers walk or ride the ladas, the animals arrive by a spur extended right up to the fairgrounds by the State Railways. Lines of empty cars line the tracks to carry the animals back two weeks later. There are also a number of passenger wagons that serve as temporary residences for the police officers who have come to maintain order at the fair.
The fair site is enormous. The sprawling dried-up bed of the Luni River and the undulating banks pulsate with people, animals and carts and are covered with makeshift shelters of every sort. It is a striking scene. The chatter of human voices is continuous amid the neighing and bellowing of hundreds of animals, yet, devoid of today`s unnerving urban noises, the atmosphere holds a surprising and soothing calm, reinforcing the sensation of entering a bygone age. A sandstorm the evening before had inconvenicend the animals and people camping in improvised shelters. Fortunately succeeding drizzles, though light, washed clean the dusty sky which now is limpid and luminous. The air is crisp and sweet smelling.
Keeping with the native tradition, visitors follow the devotees moving towards the Hindu temple dedicated to Mallinath. On a high bank, shimmering white and surrounded by greenery, the temple is the focal point of the fair. From one of the rows of shops lining the route, devotees buy garlands and coconuts for offerings at the shrine. The temple courtyard is small, clean and unpretentious, and, notwithstanding a continuous flow of pilgrims, there is no overcrowding. Seated in a doorway of the inner shrine, the priest accepts the offerings and, breaking open the coconuts, returns the halves as prasad–now a sanctified offering–to be shared and eaten with other devotees.
Despite the region`s acute shortage of water, there is water for everyone during the fair, visitors are assured. The legend goes that for the fair`s duration, subterranean springs flow beneath the dry river bed. Dig a small pit of a meter`s depth and the water surfaces. But when the fair ends, the water disappears and appears no more even if pits are dug to a depth of four meters! The phenomenon is one of several miracles attributed to St. Mallinath.
The dimensions of the pit-wells vary according to need. Besides the smaller ones dug for individual use, there are several much bigger pits operated on a commercial basis.
They permit the keeper to enter in up to the waist, balancing himself on sturdy cane-sticks pushed through the walls horizontally so that the sandy side walls do not cave in on him. From there he manages to draw bucketfuls of water to fill a large low mud trough built beside the well.
It is here that the herdsmen bring their animals for watering in exchange for a small payment established earlier. At some of these pit-wells not only are animals drinking but people are busily washing themselves and their clothing. The water is sufficiently clean and drinkable although the river`s name, Luni, means ”salty.” The name derives from its character downstream where it gathers a large quantity of mineral salts and becomes highly saline before disappearing into the Rann of Kutch, a vast salt marsh to the south.
Breeders and buyers intent on studying and judging the animals on sale gather in a large open track. The climate and soil conditions of the region are not conducive to agriculture; hence, a large portion of the rural population depends solely on livestock breeding for subsistence.
An easy and highly dependable means of transport, the camel is as indispensable to herdsman of the Thar Desert as the horse is to a cowboy of the American prairies. The best riding camels in the region come from the Shiv area and belong to a breed called ram-thalia. Known for their speed, easy gait and hardiness, these animals can survive for days without food or water, subsisting only on a little gur–or jaggery, an unrefined brown sugar–and phitkari–the chemical alum–carried by their masters in saddle bags. If the circumstances demand, they are capable of covering 120 to 150 kilometers
(roughly 75 to 95 miles) in a single night. A good camel is loved and cared for like a family member by its owner. Camel milk, though somewhat pungent, is rich and nourishing and often substitutes for cow`s milk in the desert. The camel skin is used in making jars and the wool for making simple but durable carpets called candas.
The cattle constitute another wealth of the rural folks and are bred in large numbers throughout the Barmer district. The cows serve as a regular source of milk, and the bulls are good draught animals. For a large portion of the population that is strictly vegetarian, milk and its byproducts form an essential part of the diet. Curd, a highly suitable and palatable food in the torrid desert climate, is widely used, while ghee–clarified butter–is sold locally or outside the district in exchange for cereals.
Having so many aimals to look after, feed, milk and water at regular intervals, the herdsmen are pretty busy during the day. Nevertheless there is always some leisure time for a brief get-together with friends. Groups of young herdsmen at the fair smoke bidis–indigenous cigarettes–and animatedly discuss the merits of their speedy newly acquired riding camels, much as youths in other parts of the world would gather and show off their motorcycles or cars.
Among the handmade goods sold at the fair are harness items made of colored cords and hand-sewn leather, embellished with embroidery and brass trappings; big round baskets with iron straps to hold fodder; elegant water pots made from strong tin sheets; hand-chiseled wooden legs for cots; and beautiful handwoven blankets and shawls.
Most charming are the camel saddles. Made of seasoned wood and covered with strong metal strips of iron and brass and finely etched with traditional patterns, these beautifully polished saddles are some of the finest examples of Rajasthani handicrafts.
Because of its prevalently commercial aspect, the fair attracts mostly males, unlike most other religious fairs. On move with the herds for several months of the year, the herdsmen are fairly self-sufficient: Everywhere sturdy males are busy cooking simple but wholesome food made up of bajra roti
–unleavened bread prepared from a local cereal–which is eaten with dal, a gravylike soup of legumes or with a chutney paste composed of ground peanuts, garlic and red pepper. The menu may be supplemented with a little curd or buttermilk and occasionally with some seasonal vegetable. Understandably shy of strangers, the men do not usually allow themselves to be photographed close up, but here and there people agree to pose.
When night comes the herdsmen, wrapped in heavy woolen blankets, prepare to lie down on makeshift beds around the glowing campfires. The animals huddle together for warmth in the increasing cold which, after the scorching heat at noon, seems unbelievably sharp. The sky is studded with low-looming stars. Slowly, a muffled hush falls over the site, bringing with it once again that atmosphere of a bygone era.
In 1986 the Mallinathji Animal Fair of Tilwara will be held April 5-20.
