Pairs of Salman and John, Shehanshah and Badshah alongwith Mike Tysons are in great demand this Bakrid. People of the city are gearing up for the festival of sacrifice on October 16. The race for buying the most expensive animal for sacrifice is on. The market has abundant variety of animals to offer their customers.
A vendor Javed Hussain said, “Animals ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 45,000 are available in my shop. Pair of Salman and John worth Rs45,000 are in high demand. The specialty of this pair is there is that they have good looks, sound health and are active.” These animals are exported from Palamau and Rajasthan region. To avoid crisis situation during this festive season, vendors already loaded themselves with their stock.
“Nowadays people want to buy expensive animal to proudly show off in their animal in the neighbourhood becoming a price tag themselves, attached to the creature. The most expensive animal in my shop is Mike Tyson worth of Rs 75,000. It weighs around 50 kg and is oldest among other animals,” said Prakash Chandra another vendor.
In Bakrid people sacrifice animals in order to mark their respect for Prophet Muhammad. The animals are offered a proper environment by the vendors. These animals take their bath in shampoo water moreover around 100-150 kg of foods is made available to them every day. According to Shahil Khan they treat these animals as a part of their family. “We never keep our animals alone. At night too one of our staff accompanies them,” added Khan.
A customer Sharique Rehman said, “Few things which I keep in my mind while buying the animal are it must have teeth, should be physically sound and its age must be one year old.”