Sonepur, Bihar:
The fortnight-long, world-famous cattle-cum-animal fair, the Sonepur Mela, was inaugurated on Monday in Saran district of Bihar.
Inaugurating the fair, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi outlined its religious, cultural and historical importance.
Bihar is famous for the fair. Known as the largest cattle fair of Asia, it attracts visitors from every continent each year. The local people get some employment opportunity and the government earns good revenue from the event.
Cattle from Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states have already arrived in Sonepur.
Every year the fair begins on the day of Kartik Purnima. The event formally begins at dawn with the offering of obeisance to Lord Harihar Nath (Lord Shiva) by a large number of visitors after a holy bath at the confluence of the Ganges and Gandak rivers.
The sale of elephants is the main attraction at the fair, apart from the trading of a large number of camels, horses, goats, dogs, cats and different species of birds.
Meanwhile, the local administration has made elaborate security arrangements near the bank of the Ganges as lakhs of devotees take holy dip on the occasion of Kartik Purnima.