Eid-ul-Adha is one of the two biggest religious festivals of Musalmaans. Major portion of Bangladeshi population call themselves Musalmaan & they celebrate this festival with sheer joy & enthusiasm.
This festival involves the ritual of sacrificing an animal ( which must be Halal) in the name of Allah, through which the devotion of the sacrificing person reaches to Allah in a symbolic manner.
As an animal is a must, this clearly boosts the requirement of healthy animals . To fulfill the demand, temporary cattle markets or Haats are organized in the cities & villages of Bangladesh. Such two temporary cattle markets are Aftabnagar Haat & Meradia Haat.
Arrangements to display the animals with the help of bamboo posts and fences are being prepared.
Fences & posts are ready, but the animals didn’t arrive yet. Children are making proper use by displaying their gymnastic capabilities !
Preparations are complete to receive the cattle.
Due to the higher chances of making a big profit, The Finest Cattle are brought to Dhaka from other districts in trucks.
Right after reaching Meradia Haat, a Truck Driver taking a nap. The highways to Dhaka suffer rampant pressure of traffic during two Eids, Eid-ul-Adha being the severe one. Driving a truck full of cattle & their owners takes heavy toll on the Truck Drivers & their helpers.
To safely bring the cattle down from the truck, temporary platforms are made from clay .
Multiple bulls are brought down at the same time.
Sometimes a few animals put a show of their acrobatic capabilities …!
Some of these come down calmly, just like the one here; walking without any agitation. But sometimes things go out of control.
Animals don’t follow the comfortable path sometimes & put shows like this once in a while.
…and this one completes the tumble & fall process.
After bringing down from trucks, animals are tied into the posts and fences in such a way that they can be fed easily & customers can easily examine them.
Sometimes a bit of repositioning takes place to bring the best of the lot to the best suited position.
A seller feeding his bull.
Sometimes the animals don’t feel comfortable & start making noises. This is taken as a sign of an angry animal, which can not be sold that easily. So, the Sellers try to calm them with sticks.
Sellers come in teams and they sleep in turns; right beside their animals.
There are demands for polythene based covers to make temporary beds,wrap clothing & other purposes. & business is naturally good for the sellers..!
Where animals are present, diseases also lurk around. Both buyers and sellers don’t want their animals to be sick. So,veterinary physicians along with required drugs are present in the cattle markets to keep things in order.
Small food shops are set up for the cattle sellers with little or no coverings. A few of the sellers are taking their breakfast.
Apart from temporary food shops, the permanent shops around the area also make good use of the business opportunity. Foods are being prepared in large cooking pots.
Arrangements are made to supply drinking & bathing water to the cattle sellers. In such hot & humid conditions, cooling of is a must…
A seller with his bulls.
Another seller poses with his bulls.
A portion of the buyers prefer to decorate their cattle with colorful & shiny plastic wrappings. This is another good business inside & around the Cattle Market areas.
A man with his cattle beautification products inside Cattle market area.
Not only buyers but also a large number of interested visitors come to the cattle markets. There are little kids among them too. This little Mullah was tired & sat there to recharge his energy. Did stroke a good pose though… !
After buying the desired one, people take their animal to home either themselves or they hire someone to help. A helper holding the rope of two bulls and walking them to their owners house.
The walk towards home – 2
The walk towards home – 3
The walk towards home – 4
The walk towards home – 5
After selling all their animals, the cattle sellers starting journey towards their home along with the profit & possessions.
Another Seller returning with quite a heavy load over his head.
A young man with few leftover cattle foods over his head starting a long journey towards home.
The trucks which carry the animals to Dhaka make return journey carrying the cattle sellers.
Cattle sellers over a truck, waiting for the commencement of the journey.
People returning to their home with their animal. In dusk, the rush towards the exit of Haat area is intensified.