page_title: Sonepur Cattle Fair
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sonepur Cattle Fair / History
context_page_description: Sonepur Cattle Fair is held on Kartik Poornima over the months of November and December in Sonepur, Bihar, on the confluence of river Ganges. It is also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela and it attracts visitors from all over Asia. To date, it is the biggest cattle fair in Asia and usually lasts from between fifteen days to one month in duration. It historically began when Chandragupta Maurya bought elephants and horses across the river Ganges. The Sonepur Cattle Fair used to attract traders from places as far away as Central Asia. In 2018, the Fair started on the 21st of November and continued until the 22nd of December.
context_section_description: Originally, the venue of the fair was Hajipur and only the performance of the puja used to take place at the Harihar Nath temple of Sonpur. However, under the rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the venue of the fair got shifted to Sonpur. The temple of Harihar Nath is believed to have been originally built by Lord Rama, on his way to the court of King Janak to win the hand of Mata Sita. It is further said that Raja Man Singh later got the temple repaired. The Harihar Nath temple, as it stands today, was built by Raja Ram Narain, an influential person during the late Mughal period.
  Gajendhra Moksha legendnto an elephant and a crocodile respectively by the curse of great sages Agasthya and Dewala muni. One day the elephant's leg was caught by the crocodile. It is said that the location was in Nepal. It is said that both of them fought hard for many years with their herds and while fighting, they came to the place near this temple. But ultimately the King Elephant weakened and took the lotus flower from river in its trunk and prayed to the supreme god Vishnu (Hari) to save him. Vishnu heard his prayer and cut down the crocodile with his Chakra. But the touch of the chakra released Huhu from the curse. Vishnu also released Indrayamuna from his curse and took him to his abode Vaikuntha.
  Since Sonpur is situated at the convergence of the sacred rivers Ganges and Gandak, the Hindus regard it as a holy site. One of the purposes of the people visiting the Sonpur Cattle Fair, apart from the fair, is to take a holy dip at the convergence and pay respects at the Hariharnath Temple.
caption: Lord Vishnu with Gaj and Grah
exif: {"Image Software": "Google", "Image ExifOffset": "46", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "337"}