Sarangkheda
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Horse fair
As in 2023
Ranjan Dasgupta, Dec 24, 2023: The Times of India
Horses cost more than a Porsche here
The annual Sarangkheda fair in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district is a well-known showcase for native breeds. Chhatrapati Shiva ji Maharaj is said to have once bought horses for his army here
For 18 days starting towards the end of December, Sarangkheda in north Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district comes alive to the sounds of whinnying horses and stomping hooves. For this village on the banks of the Tapi river is the site of a centuries-old equestrian fair that draws aficionados and breeders from near and far.
Interestingly, among the visitors this year are three friends from Hyderabad who trotted all the way up to Sarangkheda on an 800km journey to attend the fair. Charan Kumar, a doctor, Shiva Kumar, an IT professional, and Narendra Raju, a mathematics lecturer, set forth on December 10, taking the national highway via Bidar, Udgir, Beed, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Chalisgaon and Dhule on their trip to promote horseriding as an exercise to build physical fitness and mental agility. “All three of us have been attending the Chetak Festival since 2018. A year ago, we decided to ride our horses to Sarangkheda,” he added. To help their horses get used to vehicular traffic, they rode on the roads of Hyderabad in the run-up to their trip.
Coming back to the fair, over 2,500 horses of the Marwari, Kathiawari, Nukra and Sindhi breeds are on show at the event that kicked off on December 21. The pageantries have a distinctly modern touch but the fair also has a martial connect. Legend has it that Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shiva ji Maharaj bought war horses here. And in 2011, the Sarangkheda Horse Festival was renamed Chetak Festival, a nod to Rajput king Maharana Pratap’s storied horse.
As the event’s main focus, the horses participate in fashion and dance shows and there’s also a beauty contest for them. The ‘Rewal Chal’ race requires horses to trot at under 40kmph. But this year is special as there are two new elements: 10 schools from across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat where students can learn horse-riding have been invited to take part in an equestrian competition. Plus, there is the maiden edition of the Chetak Equestrian Premier League in which six teams will compete in show-jumping, tent-pegging and dressage.
Underlying it all is the handsome commerce that the Sarangkheda festival facilitates. “Owners strike deals with buyers, including breeders, horse lovers and farmers. Once the deals are finalised at the fair, the buyer normally travels to the seller’s place to make the payment and take the horse home,” said Jaypalsinh Rawal, the chief of the event’s organising committee.
Jaugnu Gandhi, a stud farm owner from Ahmedabad who has been a festival regular for three decades, said the event “is on a par with Pushkar mela in Rajasthan”. “The horses are of the highest quality and traders from at least 16 states come here.”
Abdul Khalid, a breeder from Ba reilly in Uttar Pradesh, has brought 30 horses to the fair. “If I get the right price, I will sell some. I have been coming here for over 15 years,” he said. The costliest horse that Khalid intends to sell is a nearly six-foot Nukra mare. The asking price: Rs 1 crore. Breeders say horses can go from a minimum of Rs 50,000 to as high as Rs 2 crore. Every year, deals worth over Rs 15-Rs 20 crore are finalised at the fair.
Locals, too, have plenty of opportunities to cash in. Sarangkheda’s sarpanch Prithviraj Rawal said over 200 stalls are set up for selling everything from tea and snacks to handicrafts. Rajesh Patil, a Sarangkheda resident, said the fair draws thousands of visitors daily and stall-owners make at least Rs 25,000 every day.
