It was destiny’s choice that work came up in Patna on
November 6- the day of the auspicious Kartika Poornima (full moon night of the
8th month of the Hindu calendar).
November is when the festival calendar in India starts getting exciting. Many of these festivals are river/lake
centric and pilgrims take a dip in the water with the faith that it will lead
to salvation. My experience at Varanasi
on this day in 2011 is captured in http://pedantictraveler.blogspot.in/2011_11_01_archive.html
After completing my work in Patna, I set out for Sonepur on
Nov 8th morning. It was a
hazy day, and even at 10 am the visibility was poor, which made me worried
about the quality of photos I would get.
Sonepur is about 25 kilometers across the river Ganga from Patna, the
capital of Bihar. The mighty river and
its adjoining flood plane is bridged by the 9-km long Gandhi Setu. The condition of the four-lane bridge is not
good. One flank of the bridge was closed
for major repair, and both-way traffic was crawling through the other flank. It took me about an hour to reach the fair
ground. Sonepur Cattle Fair starts on
Kartika Purnima and continues for almost a month. The peak time is however the first week,
after which the momentum tapers off. It
is also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela, named after the temple of Hariharnath
(Shiva) where the pilgrims offer oblations after the holy dip in the
river. The Fair is spread over an area of
500 acres at the confluence of the rivers Ganga and Gandak. It is reputed as the largest cattle fair of
Asia and has an ancient history.
My trip began from where the car dropped me at 11 am- in
front of the main administrative and tourism office. The first visuals to greet me were an
impressive gate leading in to the fair ground; a large hoarding announcing the
fair and a semi-open cultural program auditorium- empty in the morning- aesthetically
built, impressively large and well-guarded.
A water sprinkler ambled past me, spraying water on the road for dust
control.
The crowd was not large at that
hour, but was building up slowly. The
Railways set up a Rail Gram in a sprawling area. It had a toy train ride, exhibit booths,
stalls and most importantly a large open canteen with plenty of seats. It was perfect place and time to try some
litti-chokha (spicy wheat balls stuffed with powdered gram or lentil and clarified
butter added to it, served with a spicy sauce), which is a traditional dish of
Bihar-Jharkhand area. Then I started my
sojourn in to the fair ground. The first
feeling is that there is a riot of colour everywhere. The cosmetics vendors are selling
multi-colored vermilion, threads, bangles, nail-polish; the toy vendors are
selling colorful plastic items; and the buyers are mostly women dressed in
bright colored sarees and carrying colorful bags. Even the food items being sold are mostly
colorful. Contrast is created in between
by the vendors selling flattened and puffed rice, heaped on a plastic sheet
placed on the ground. I also found a
very interesting clay whistle painted in black.
It was a thick L-shaped contraption which blurted out a strong and
shrill noise equivalent to a police whistle when air is blown at one end of
it. Evidently, the poor rural women who
make and sell these got the physics absolutely right. Nothing short of a rural innovation, it is
sold dirt cheap for Rs. 5/piece.
There was no guided direction to the different sectors of
the sprawling fair ground- so I walked aimlessly for a while clicking pictures
of whatever I found interesting. Large
family units arrived by noon, with the family patriarch often barking
instructions to the women folk. There
were several women-only groups too- buying things of their choice and enjoying
their fleeting moment of freedom from daily household chores. I noted that women here love bright colors
(in contrast to the men folk, who wore predominantly white) and have amazing
ability to balance head-load while keeping their hands free for shopping. I also noted with amazement that men,
evidently from poor rural background, were walking around with rather large
trees and holding it as if it was their child.
Clearly these were to be planted once they reached their village. The love and gentleness towards nature stood
in contrast to their otherwise tough demeanor.
I strolled in to a sector marked as Art & Crafts
Village. It had stalls of various
self-help groups from Bihar. Exquisite
products made from bamboo, cane, brass and clay were on sale at extremely
reasonable prices. Attractive blanket,
jute products and silk items were also available.
I became so engrossed in the enthralling
sights and sounds of the fair that I almost forgot that the main attraction is
the animal trade. When I recalled, I
hurriedly strolled towards the dog and bird market (sold in the same
sector). On the way, there was a
solitary stall selling variety of fish.
Its prize display was a fish named Arowana (they spelt it as Aruana)-
priced at Rs. 20,000 ($333). I later
found that sale offer prices on OLX for this fish varied from Rs. 650 to
27,000! The bird and dog enclosure had
birds on one row and dogs on the other.
Bird species of pigeon, parrot, love bird, cockatoo and finch were on
sale. The asking price of parrots was
Rs. 900 per pair, pigeons Rs. 100. The
dog side had more variety- starting with small Bhutiya pups to Pomeranians to
Labrador to Alsatian to Dachshund to Dalmatians. The condition in which the dogs were kept was
abysmal. The visitor and customer
profile was unusual.
After coming out of
this sector, I walked up to the area where bullocks were being sold. The area was sleepy- it was around noon and
animal keepers were lazing in their tents with no customer in sight. There were less than 50 animals seen on the
ground. Reportedly 1781 bullocks were
sold in 2013 and 5680 in 2012. Evidently
the fall in demand is commensurate with the growth of mechanized farming and transport
in the country. Even in remote areas,
farmers are opting for tractors. I
chatted up with one of them and learnt that the price could be around Rs.
60,000 ($1,000) for one. While talking
to me, he was rubbing salt inside the mouth of the bullock. Apparently, it increases the appetite of the
animal. Coming out of this area, I
stopped at a vendor who was selling metal patches which would mend a metal
bucket or utensil. There I met with a
dwarfish man in saffron who happily allowed me to take his photograph as he
played the flute on condition that I will send him a photograph to his postal
address in Nathchak Village in Bihar.
My next and most fulfilling stop was at the sector where horses were being sold. It was quite a walk finding the “ghora bazar” as locals call it. As soon as I entered, I was greeted with the sight of rows of horses lined up in orderly rows in small groups. Most of them were pony-to-mid sized. The sector was buzzing with activity. Grooms were tending to the horses in their care; exciting customers moving around checking the animals. I sensed an extra buzz at a distance and followed it. This turned out to be my best moment at the fair. Behind rows of excited onlookers I discovered a few hundred meter long and 8 meter wide clay track on which tall, well-built horses were being raced by the most uncharacteristic jockeys. The person racing the horses were either completely rural, dressed in pagri (headgear made of long cloth), kurta (flowing robe), dhoti (long unstitched loincloth worn- a traditional dress, now predominantly a rural attire) and slippers. But they sure rode their horse well. In the relatively short track, they managed to notch up good speed, complete with a u-turn at the end; and had no problem finding space for 3-5 horses racing simultaneously at the track. As it happens only in “Incredible India”, hundreds of people were lined up at both sides of the unfenced track and horses were racing past the people with a wafer-thin margin. Once I saw someone go around advising people softly to step back with a philosophical warning that “these are horses, not cars”. The audience was enthusiastic, appreciative, disciplined and no one got trampled in the one hour I stayed there. Each horse was being raced for a fair length of time, after which a new horse with a new jockey replaced it. Evidently the purpose of the effort was to impress upon the prospective buyers about the quality of the horses so that it fetches good price. I was fascinated by the ambience of the place- this was India’s Hindi heartland at its best. My non-local demeanor was ignored after a quick curious look- possibly my kurta helped to partially integrate while my backpack and camera gave me the invincible journalistic aura which our Fourth Estate wear on its sleeves. When I naively asked whether there are enough customers in Bihar to buy horses, the man laughed and told me that people buy horses for hobby and to show their stature. He apparently knew of a rich man who even bought a cow to feed milk to his horses! After my questions were answered, he asked me one question and completely demolished my pride about knowing enough about my city. His simple question was where do the Rajputs in Kolkata stay?
While I was here, a school boy latched on to me for a while
for no rhyme or reason. He was roaming
in the fair alone like me before he would go to his relative who was selling
something. After overcoming my initial
suspicion, I chatted up with him and even got each other’s photo clicked. He seemed to have found me interesting or
impressive; but I was in no mood to get locked up with him and hence I shook
him off after a brief chat. I wandered around for a little more time and soaked in some random interesting sights. It was past
3 pm and I set off for the Hariharnath Temple (dedicated to Shiva) before it
would be dark. A helpful man whom I
simply asked for direction escorted me through the local roads and in to the
temple, talking to me all the while. He
retired from Bihar government service and stays in the neighborhood. The temple has ancient history and mythology
associated. The architecture of the current
temple is neither impressive nor ancient; however it is a major attraction for
pilgrims who come for the devotional bath in the river followed by prayer
offering to Shiva- the reigning deity of the temple.
My next sojourn was in the “haathi bazar”- elephant market. There were about 20-odd elephants, each decorated with a bright cloth slung over its back. The caregiver was seen sitting by the side of the elephant, lovingly and patiently handing out a bunch of tall grass every time the truck was swung towards him. One elephant was bought two buckets of water- like a naughty child it drank from the distant bucket first and then finished the bucket placed near it. Another adolescent elephant was a star attraction, it was accepting money in its truck and was mild mannered enough for tourists like me to pose for photographs while touching its trunk. The number of elephants on display was nothing compared to the legend of this fair which said that Maurya emperors send their men to buy the best of elephants in and around 300 BC. In modern India’s Wildlife Protection Act, capture and trade in indigenous wildlife species elephants is illegal. Elephants are in Schedule I, which theoretically gives them maximum protection at the same level as tigers and lions. But that is in India, and this is Bharat. Therefore, elephants are still brought and displayed with an evident intent to sell. However, the sale happens in a wink and a nod method. When I asked a mahout what is the price of an elephant, he said only the owner knows. When I asked the owner, his stock answer to tourists like me was “we do not sell elephants, we have bought them for puja”. Indeed.
At the same time, the cultural
auditorium was now full to the brim, with a dance program being staged there. I had a nice conversation with the Bihar
Tourism Department staff who was manning the spacious stall inside the
auditorium arena. They were extremely
helpful, providing me with brochures and even offering me a seat in the sofa
inside as I was waiting for my car to navigate the traffic to come and pick me
up. I congratulated them on organizing
the fair so efficiently. Evidently, the
Department and its supporting agencies have put their heart out in making the
event a success. Huge amount of money
was spent in creating infrastructure such as lights, pathways, water supply as
well as in organizing the splendid cultural programs in the evening. To meet the requirement of high-end and
foreign tourists, the Department has also created a Tourist Village with
cottages costing around Rs. 5000 ($85) per night. This is however only the rate for the first
week of the fair, after which the rate tapers down to Rs. 600 ($10) in the last
week. Police arrangement was visible and
efficient.
Lastly, I cant help mention that the men at the fair presented a fascinating sight. They exuded a curious mix of manliness in a feudal Indian way, but also a softness which is rarely visible in our urban gender-leveler ecosystem.
Overall, the Sonepur fair is a wonderful experience. A successful tour of the fair requires a few
things- overcoming the fear of unknown; an open mind cleared of various urban
prejudices; stamina to walk extensively and preferably aimlessly; familiarity
of local language to interact with the local population, and an eye for finding
beauty in simplicity. It can be a
challenge for many. Possibly this is the
reason why very little pre or post participation information is available about
this event from authentic sources, although there are some excellent
photographs taken by renown photographers who saw it through their camera but
could not imbibe the people flavor of the place. I am just glad that I got a chance to visit
this fabulous event, which once again transported me momentarily from India to
the ancient Bharat, where the soul of India still seems to live.
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