People buy fish at a shop on Boring Road on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

The festival of colours might be five months away but the kind of rush the mutton and chicken shops in the city saw on Thursday was unprecedented.

Usually, such a rush for purchase and consumption of non-vegetarian items is seen on Holi.

Most residents turn vegetarian in the run-up to Chhath, which Chhath ended on Thursday morning. People thronged chicken, mutton and fish shops. “Since Diwali, we had turned vegetarian. However, as the festival ended today (Thursday), we can relish non-vegetarian food once again,” said Santosh Kumar, a resident of Buddha Colony.

In Bihar, Chhath is considered the most pious festival. For four days, most people turn vegetarian, badly affecting the chicken, mutton and fish business. But Thursday, many residents even turned up at the shops directly on way home from the ghats.

“We have just finished the morning arghya and are coming directly from Collectorate Ghat. By the time our people reach home, I would finish buying mutton because it takes time. This is not the first time I have reached the mutton shop directly from the Chhath ghat. We have been doing it for the past 20 years,” said Pappu Mishra, a resident of Pataliputra.

Till Wednesday, the non-vegetarian shops, which used to open after noon, opened at 5.30am on Thursday, courtesy a large number of people turning up to purchase it. However, the mutton, chicken and fish sellers believe that lesser number of people turned on Thursday compared to other days.

Mutton seller Moharram Ansari of Ashiana Nagar had bought 10 goats to cater to customers’ demands. “My shop was closed for the past four days but with today (Thursday), I am expecting a rush of customers,” he said.

Having spent more than 20 years in this business, Ansari’s preparation didn’t go waste, as he sold his entire stock in two hours.