SONEPUR MELA; The largest animal Fair of ASIA, opens today

Harihar Kshetra Mela, the largest cattle fair of Asia, will kick off at Sonepur on Saturday. Organized jointly by the Bihar Tourism and the Saran and Vaishali district administration, the fair, popularly known as Sonepur fail, would conclude on December 17.

"We expect over seven lakh visitors on Kartik Poornima on Saturday," state tourism department's principal secretary Bimbadhar Pradhan said at a press conference on Friday. A colourful cultural programme organized to coincide with the inauguration would begin at 5pm.

Various infrastructure schemes worth over Rs 162 lakh have been taken up at Sonepur to improve the tourism facilities. Development and beautification of the mela area (Rs 148.89 lakh), expansion of stage (Rs 5.11 lakh) and construction of toilets and water supply (Rs 8.79 lakh) are some of the major facilities provided at the fair venue. "Vaishali police have made adequate security arrangements, deploying cops both in uniform and mufti at the venue," Pradhan said.

For the promotion of the mela, hoardings and advertisements have been put up at the Delhi airport, in Delhi Metro Rail and also in Air India's in-flight magazine 'Shubh Yatra'. The department is also doing publicity of the fair through ads on TV and in cinema halls.

As many as 20 Swiss cottages have been made for the tourists and 33 retro reflective signage have been installed to guide the tourists at the fair venue," said Pradhan. The tourism department has also published a souvenir to highlight the different aspects and facets of mela.

However, the department is a little sceptic about the footfall owing to the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. "IITF can hold back our tourists, but we want to develop Sonepur mela like Surajkund craft mela organized in Haryana and Pushkar cattle fair in Rajasthan," Pradhan said.

The tourism department is organizing various cultural programmes, aqua sports, adventure sports and competitions throughout the month. These events include kabaddi, boat race and horse race. The department is also planning to hold a camel race this year.

Ganga Maha Aarti will be organized every Tuesday and Saturday from November 19 to December 17 at 6pm at Pul Ghat, Sonepur. Ramleela and discourses will be organized every evening from November 18 to December 26 at Baba Hariharnath Temple at Sonepur at 6.30pm.