Sonepur Mela
Asia's largest cattle fair, a month long, where two rivers meet
What it is
A month of animals, traders, theatre tents and pilgrims on the sand where the Gandak runs into the Ganga. It opens on Kartik Purnima with a bathe at the confluence and a visit to the Harihar Nath temple, and it has run for centuries.
Why it matters
It is the oldest thing of its kind anywhere. Elephants are no longer traded — that ended by law — but almost everything else still is, and the scale of it is difficult to describe to anybody who has not stood in it.
How it works
- Stay in Patna or Hajipur and come out for the day. Sonepur itself has very little.
- The opening days around Kartik Purnima are the biggest.
- The cattle lines, the bird market and the theatre tents are three different fairs in one.
- Who it is for
- Anybody. It is crowded, dusty, loud and worth it.
- Best season
- Nov - Dec
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Cost
- Free to enter.
- When
- From Kartik Purnima — November into December — for about a month
- Booking
- A room in November, a month ahead.
- Book ahead
- A month
- Languages
- Bhojpuri, Hindi
What to bring
- Closed shoes
- Cash
- Something over your face on a dry day
Where
- Sonepur Mela: Pilgrims come for the holy dip at the confluence on Kartik Purnima and then for darshan at the Harihar...
- Harihar Nath Temple, Sonepur: Pilgrims take a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the Gandak and then worship the Harihar...
- Kaunhara Ghat: Pilgrims bathe and pray at the confluence, especially on full-moon days
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