Sonepur Cattle Fair
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George Joseph 116 2
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George Joseph 116 2
Sonepur Mela Stage, Sonepur, Saran, Bihar, India
Free entry. Registration not required.
Schedule and Timing:
Sonepur Cattle Fair is held annually starting from the Kartik Poornima and lasts up to 30 days.
Description:Sonepur cattle fair or mela is the largest cattle fair in the country. Hundreds of varieties of livestock including birds are traded here.
Sonepur mela is not just about cattle. Sonepur being the meeting point of Ganga and Gandak, it has religious rituals associated with it. The mela is held in the Sonepur Harihar Nath temple premises. Sonpur mela is also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela.
The Sonepur cattle fair begins with the early morning sunrise bath in the river. The cattle trade happens mostly in the first week of the festival.
Entertainment is in abundance during the fair with merry go rounds and dance theatres. Sonepur is full of fun and frolic during the days of the mela.
Sonepur Mela History
The Sonepur Mela has a history spanning centuries. It is believed that Chandragupta Maurya crossed the Ganga river and bought horses and elephants from here.
In the earlier days, Hajipur was the venue of the cattle fair and only the initial puja and other rituals were performed at Sonepur. It was shifted to Sonepur during the time of Aurangazeb.
Elephants were the primary focus of attention in the earlier days. The legend of Gajendra Moksha depicted in the epics is believed to be at this place. At one point in time, about a thousand elephants were brought to the Sonepur mela for trading. However, this had to be stopped with the wildlife protection acts enforced later.
Event id: 2135918091
Published on August 28th, 2018, 9:43 am
Ver.5 Dated December 11th, 2019, 3:30 pm
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