Gujarat’s famous Tarnetar fair is charmless this year, and it is excessive rain that has to be blamed for it.

One of the biggest fairs of Saurashtra region in Gujarat, Tarnetar is drawing lesser amount of visitors this year due to too much rain, throughout the monsoon 2010. This has affected the business and activities at the fair venue, compare to most of the past years.

The local organizer body of the fair earned income of Rs 27.5 lakh last year through auction of plots at the venue. However this year, the income is significantly down at just Rs 17 lakh. As all plots couldn’t be auctioned in prescribed days, the administration had to stretch the auction schedule. However this too yielded no result. While last year, 655 plots were auctioned and occupied by traders, this year the figure reached 235 only.

The flag hoisting ceremony on Saturday, was not as vibrant as it used to be in past. There was no grand procession.

The visitors throughout the fair should be at least seven lakh, but looking at the first two days response, it seems, the figure would be at around 2-3 lakh maximum due to rainfall, that continued even on Friday and Saturday.

Tarnetar fair witnesses at least 30 to 40 different types of rides every year, but this year there’s only one ride for the children. Yes only 1 ride was seen on Saturday.

Sunday 12 September would be the most important day for Tarnetar fair. It is believed that holy river Ganga comes at Trineteshwar Mahadev mandir this day. It is estimated that large number of people would come to take bath in the kunda here due to religious belief connected with this day. However, a mood of celebration, or involvement in other activities is completely absent.

Gujarat Tourism and state Sports Authority have organized some events on Sunday, including traditional games like Gedi Dado and Langdi. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is also coming to join the fair on Sunday morning. While this may attract some crowd, the over all charm of the fair is absent this year.