Camels in a Parade

For the last 30 days I have been sharing pictures of the mementos I have of elephants.  Wow!  Guess I really like elephants!  

Yesterday’s picture showed an elephant leading the parade followed by five other animals. Third in line was a camel.  Starting today, my plan is to share my stories about camels and the various mementos I have of camels.

Let’s start with the same picture.  The camel in this picture appears to be all dressed up showing off for the parade. 

There are several festivals held throughout India in which camels are part of the parade.

Republic Day is celebrated on January 26.  India acquired freedom from Britain in 1947 but it wasn’t until January 26, 1950 that India became a sovereign state and the Indian Constitution declared it a republic.  

January 26, 2022 marked the 73rd Republic Day.  A parade was held in the nation's capital as well as in the state capitals. At the end of the parade, the Governor unveils the flag of India. 

The parade in the national capital, Delhi, starts at Rajpath and ends at India Gate. Included in the parade this year despite the pandemic were the Border Security Forces band riding a camel.  The Border Security Force squad mounted on decorated camels first joined the parade in Delhi in 1976 and the band squad also started becoming a part of the parade in 1990.

India’s Border Security Force is ready at all times to protect the borders by riding camels on the international border with Pakistan in the states of Guiarat and Rajasthan.  It is the only army squad of its kind in the world. 

The international border includes vast deserts, river-valleys and snow-covered regions. It is very difficult for vehicles to move in the desert, but the camel can run easily on the sand dunes.  For this reason camels, called ships of the desert, were selected for the soldiers of the Border Security Force. 

India has camel corps that guard the border and patrol throughout Rajasthan where Jaipur is located so it makes sense that my painting from Jaipur shows the camel as part of the parade.

Decorated camels have costumes of vividly colored silks and bridles as well as jewellery, headdresses, gem-studded necklaces and sparkling anklets.

# living life abundantly    # published author