Foreign tourists make a beeline for Sonepur Mela

PATNA: The Sonepur fair, popularly known as Harihar Kshetra Mela , is slowly but surely becoming a favourite destination for foreign tourists as well.

On the very first day of Kartik Purnima on November 12, at least 14 foreigners — 11 from France, two from Netherlands and one from the United Kingdom (UK) — visited the fair, once touted as the biggest cattle fair of the Asia continent.

Till date, 21 foreign tourists have already visited the fair and more are expected to visit soon. Suman Kumar, a functionary of Prayatak Gram Tourism at Sonepur fair, said on Friday that the number of foreign tourists to the fair has doubled this year compared to the last year.

Altogether 21 tourists from abroad have already booked the Swiss Collages at the fair. While one from UK, two from Netherlands and 11 from France returned after spending two days in the fair, 14 from Israel will come on November 17, the Prayatak Gram Tourism functionary said.

One of the foreign tourists, who introduced himself as Maik Ibrahim from London, said, “I am very elated over the rituals of elephant bath in the Ganga. I really enjoyed it. It was altogether a new experience here. The scene was simply amazing.”

Ibrahim had reached Sonepur from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on November 11 to watch the congregation of a large number of devotees who took a holy dip in the river on the occasion of Kartik Purnima. “I have seen elephants, horses, goats and other animals in the fair, which are special attraction for the foreign nationals,” the UK national said, adding that he was very much impressed with the spiritual lifestyle of people living along the sacred river — Ganga.

Apparently enamoured by the simple lifestyle of the rural masses in the region, Ibrahim said, “Spirituality is prevalent everywhere. It’s wonderful and amazing.” He said it was his maiden visit to the Sonepur fair in particular and Bihar in general. Ibrahim had earlier visited Haridwar where he spent a few days before leaving for Varanasi, another holy city in India.

Igor Klimenko, who headed an 11-member group from France, was satisfied with the accommodation at the Sonepur fair. “The accommodation facilities and other arrangements were better than the fair at Pushkar. But the charges of food served to us by the catering agency were very high,” he added.

Klimenko, however, described the tour as very successful. “It was amazing to see people, including women, children and elderly jostling with each other to have a holy dip in the Ganga. The locals’ enthusiasm was at its peak at the dawn when people were allowed to take bath in the river,” he added.

According to sources in the tourism department, the maximum bookings of the Swiss Cottages, which is at par with the facility of three-star hotel, came from Israel. The cottages have been especially designed to attract the tourists.

Suman attributed the rise in number of foreign tourists to advertisements published through different travel agencies.