A Day at Asia’s Largest Animal Fair

By Awake! correspondent in India

MAHARAJAS riding atop beautifully decorated elephants or a humble farmer driving a pair of great horned bullocks​—such scenes are often photographed here in India. But where are such large and valuable animals obtained?

To find out, come with us to Sonepur in the state of Bihar, in northeastern India. There we can visit a fair probably unlike any you have seen before. It is reportedly the largest animal fair in Asia, possibly even in the world. It is held for about two weeks during October and November.

A Fascinating Event

What crowds! Women are decked out in bright saris, with plentiful jewelry. Married women particularly stand out with red powder rubbed into the parting of their hair. Most of them have a baby in their arms, and another child or two clutches at their saris as they hurry to keep up with their husbands.

With such immense crowds, we wonder how children manage to keep from getting lost. The fact is, many don’t. In just one week, we learned, 50 children were lost, and only 17 of them were recovered. We shudder to think what happens to the missing ones, since we have heard that unscrupulous persons often seize them and force them into begging and immoral practices.

Roadside stalls add to the congestion but are interesting to see. At one stall, when a coin is contributed, a little bird comes out of its cage and picks up a card. The man in charge interprets one’s future from it. Need a quick shave? Then simply squat in front of the barber, and his long, sharp razor glides steadily over your lathered face. In just three minutes, you receive a shave that is perhaps closer than one any modern equipment can provide.

Stalls offer a vast assortment of decorative bangles, which Indian women enjoy wearing on each arm, color coordinated to match their saris. The experienced merchant slips bangle after bangle on and off till he finds the right size and style. On each arm a typical Indian woman may wear a dozen or so bangles, made of glass, metal, or plastic.

Stalls also sell trinkets for animals. After all, this is an animal fair. Business here is brisk because the villagers are fond of decorating their animals. Adornments include beads for the animals’ necks as well as colorful bells of different sizes.

Who is that crying out? Why, a beggar! Shriveled and covered with dust, he crawls on the road and pushes along his beggar’s bowl. Considering the crowd, it’s a wonder he escapes being trampled! During the fair, people are generous to beggars, so this man’s bowl is already half full of coins. Near the temple are hundreds of beggars asking for alms​—the lame, the blind, and the leprous. Some are cursing their fate, others invoke the names of gods, and some shower blessings on those who give.

Also heading for the fair are animals of many kinds. The elephants are painted and gaily decorated. Each has a rider on top who gives brisk commands to move on or to slow down, using an occasional nudge with a stick behind the elephant’s ears. Water buffalo, heads held high, move ever so slowly, completely oblivious of the traffic that piles up behind them.

En route we also see many cows and a few camels. Monkeys are plentiful, mostly of the langur type. These have bushy eyebrows and tufted chins. Feathered creatures abound as well, from ornate peacocks and parrots to parakeets and pigeons. All have come to the fair from far and near.

Some Feature Attractions

The prize cows that come from the Punjab are among the feature attractions. Some yield about seven gallons [25 L] of milk twice a day. Truly, they are beautiful animals! Many folk come just to look at them, whereas others are serious buyers. Whenever a sale is made, the owner cries out, “Bolo Hariharnath Ki,” thus hailing a local deity, and the crowd responds in agreement, “Jai.” The average cost of an Indian cow may range from 3,000 to 5,000 rupees, but these prize foreign breeds sell for 20,000 to 40,000 rupees.a

This year there are only 15 camels for sale at the market. These “ships of the desert” cost 5,000 rupees each. They can work for long hours and can take heat and cold and thirst and hunger in their stride. Camels can be used to pull carts and plows and to turn waterwheels, work usually done by bullocks, or oxen.

The most popular animals are the bullocks. It is almost impossible to travel Indian roads without seeing the ever-​dependable bullock cart hauling the farmer’s goods and family to town. One enterprising seller has put up a sign saying “Superstar Bullocks.” And they really do look like superstars! Lest anyone get an idea of cheating or robbing him, he has two decorated rifles ready. A superstar sells for 35,000 rupees.

The neighing horses catch our attention next, and what lovely animals they are! Some are mounts for the police or the army, while others are intended for racing. Ponies for riding and for pulling a carriage are also available. In one stall a brass band is playing, to the delight of a trained horse, which dances in step with the music.

We move on in the direction of loud trumpeting. There, in the midst of a mango grove, are the elephants, all 250 of them. What majestic creatures! They have come from all over India and Nepal. They seem restless, however, possibly because of the large crowd as well as the presence of so many others of their kind.

Here we meet Harihar Prasad, a 25-​year-​old male elephant that is trumpeting wildly. His owner, Gangabux Singh, has just sold him for 70,000 rupees. Considering the present market rate of 130,000 rupees for a good jumbo, the price is quite low. But Harihar is a bit difficult to handle.

Harihar walked for 22 days to reach the fair, and now his owner is sad to part with him. But business is business, and emotional ties have to be cut. We wondered if Harihar too is sad to leave his old mahout (trainer). When his new mahout tried to handle him, Harihar broke his ropes, so he is in chains.

To calm him and to effect a smooth transition, his previous mahout will travel with him to his new home. There, both handlers will work together until the new one gets used to Harihar and his moods. We learn that the new owner does not intend to keep Harihar for long. So he may be brought back to Sonepur and sold again next year.

It may be that Harihar will be bought by people from Rajasthan to become a temple elephant in some faraway place. Then he would be fully decorated and used in pulling a temple chariot. Or he might end up hauling timber in the remote jungles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, way out in the Bay of Bengal.

A Fair With a Long History

Although no one seems to be sure as to when or how the animal fair actually got started at Sonepur, it appears to have come into prominence during the reign of Mogul emperor ‘Alamgīr (1658-1707). Rajeshwar Prasad Singh, a local landlord, says that his family has been renting out the fairgrounds for the horse market since 1887. From the 19th century on, indigo planters of the British Raj gathered here during the fair for polo playing, horse racing, and dances.

The maharajas who came to the fair with large entourages and lived in special tents added luster to the fair in earlier days. Yet, as long as demand for animals persists, the Sonepur fair will continue to be held. We were happy to have spent some time at this vastly different fair, where animals of all sorts are the star attractions.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 23]

Decorated steed being displayed to onlookers

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Harihar Prasad after he was sold