Surajkund mela

Some photos from the recently concluded Surajkund Mela, which is held every year from Feb 1st to 15th at Surajkund. Each year a different state's crafts are highlighted; this year it was Assam. While it was originally just a crafts mela, now it has become a regular mela, with huge crowds, especially on the weekends, when it becomes impossible to even walk. The best way to enjoy the mela is to go early, around 10am, so you have time to see the crafts and enjoy the bargaining.

Banners strung among the kikar trees of the mela grounds. The whole area is all up and down, rolling countryside, with lots of kikar trees.

A mask maker's wares. These are sawdust masks from Andhra Pradesh.

A general view of one of the many pathways of the mela grounds.

Colorful pennants flying in the wind.

A lady inspecting some fabrics.

Colorful shawls and scarves on display.

More pennants strung across the trees.

And now for the bad parts....the traffic, the crowds, the parking. This year they had helicopter rides too...can you see it in the above photo!

Another parking lot. This is the usual weekend rush....weekdays are quite relaxed.

and more parking. There's also a few remote parking lots, with shuttle autos to ferry people to the mela.

And lastly, some new blooms on our balcony...blocking out all the rows and rows of cars parked at the mela.