73with his 15 camels through the desert
from a small village near Bikaner in
northern Rajasthan to attend the fair.
Ram has been coming to the fair for
20 years to buy and sell camels that
he uses to help plough his fields.
The camels also provide him and his
family with milk, an important part of
the Rabari diet and a highly nutritious
source of vitamins and minerals that
can sustain nomadic herders on
long desert treks for weeks. “I love
my camels like I love my son,” Ram
confesses. “The camel has been a
part of the Rabari family since the
beginning of time.”
Stories passed down generations
shine a light on the Rabari creation
myth which reveals a fascinating
connection with the camel, revealed
in Rabari Myth of Origin, Census of
Rajmarwar, published in 1896: “Shiva
was meditating. Waiting for him to be
finished and trying to pass the time,
his consort, Parvati, started shaping
animals out of clay. She created one
particularly strange animal with five
legs. Then, she asked Shiva to blow
some life into it. He refused, saying
that such a misshaped animal would
be beset by a host of problems. But
Parvati persisted in begging him.Finally, Shiva gave in. He folded the
fifth leg over the animal’s back and
then said uth – get up! The camel got
up and walked away. After some time,
it started making a lot of trouble and
creating a big nuisance. Parvati once
again came to Shiva and asked for his
help. She requested him to make a
man that could look after the camel.
Shiva then rolled a little bit of skin and
dust from his arm and out of this he
made the first Rabari.”
For a poor farmer like Ram,
purchasing a camel can be a huge
investment. Traders can be seen
examining the health of camels,