Goats on sale at Bakri Bazaar at Rukkanpura in Patna. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Nov. 14: A 100-cottah plot along Bailey Road in Rukkanpura locality wears the look of a rural fair these days.

The Bakri (goat) Bazaar of Patna witnesses a mad rush of customers looking for goats which they would sacrifice on Bakri Id day. Bakri Id (Id-Ul-Zoha) is to be observed on November 17.

Unlike other markets which come up during festivals, this bazaar starts buzzing with activities right from 6am and the customers not only come from Patna but also from places like Ara and Biharsharif.

On an average, around 1,000 goats are sold everyday.

“Though this bazaar remains in place round the year, special arrangements are made to deck up the market almost 10 days prior to Bakri Id to handle the rush of goatsellers and customers who come here in large numbers,” said Mohammed Ziaullah Khan, the man who manages this 10-day show.

Arrangements are made for lighting, temporary sheds used by traders for their night stay, hotels selling food items and security as the cash transactions are high with price varying between Rs 3,000 and Rs 40,000 per goat.

“This year, a goat was sold for Rs 36,000 on Friday,” said Khan with a twinkle in his eyes.

And to cater to the demands of buyers, the market witnesses a rush of goat sellers too.

It can be gauged from the fact that apart from far-flung places of Bihar like Purnea, Saharsa, Begusarai, Vaishali, Jehanabad, Bhagalpur, Munger and Samastipur, goat traders from Jaipur in Rajasthan and Etawah in western Uttar Pradesh too come here with truckloads of goats to this market.

“I have been coming to Patna for over a decade now and each trip to this city has proved to be quite beneficial in terms of the business that it generates,” said Birpal Singh, a goat trader from Jaipur, who along with his two partners, Sonpal Singh and Dan Singh, has come here with a truckload of goats, around 200.

Mansoor Khan of Etawah, who too has come here with a truckload of goats, said: “Though very choosy about the goats they purchase, people coming to this market pay a good price if they find a goat of their choice.”

Shaukat Imam, a lawyer residing in Patna City, who had come to purchase a goat, said: “We purchase mutton from the market for other occasions, but Bakri Id has a special significance and we choose the best available goat for this occasion even if the price is a bit higher.”

This septuagenarian, who has been purchasing sacrificial goats for the past 45 years, also shared the tricks for identifying a good goat for sacrifice and said: “By touching the backbone of the goat one can assess whether it has sufficient fat or not. Width of chest and the amount of flesh on the thigh of the goat should also be checked before finalising the deal.”

It is not that Bakri Bazaar offers a good trading opportunity for goat owners only. Those providing services to this market too earn healthy returns.

Ziaullah Khan, who manages the market, gets Rs 10 for each deal from the goat owners and going by the number of goats being sold here, around 1,000 goats daily, Bakri Id brings a good fortune for Khan. There are also owners of three hotels who cater to the needs of goat traders.

“On an average we prepare food for around 100 persons daily and there is hardly a day when anything is left at the end of the day,” said one of the hotel owners.

There is another set of people who earn quick bucks. They are the leaf suppliers, the majority of them are from Danapur who supply leaves to goat traders for the goats to be fed.

“I earn around Rs 200 per day by supplying leaves,” said Naushad, who has engaged two boys for plucking leaves from trees and supply them to the market.

Even the autorick- shaw drivers are doing a brisk business as most of the customers hire autos to take goats to their respective destination.

“For 10 days, I park my autorickshaw here only as there is no dearth of customers looking for service,” said Chunnu, an autorickshaw driver.

Even though the combined sound of the bleating of goats and the bargaining between goat sellers and customers may give you a tough time but those coming to the market seem to enjoy it.

“It is tough spending long hours in the market but at the same time it takes me back to the old days when nothing came with a price tag and deals used to be finalised on the mutual agreement between the seller and the buyer,” said Hamid, a sexagenarian retired government servant.