Maghi Mela and Horse, Animal & Bird Fair

As is the tradition, this year the Maghi Mela was marked on 14 Jan, a day before Makar Sankranti. Maghi Mela has been commemorated in the city of Sri Muktsar Sahib in Panjab for centuries in memory of the 40 Sikh warriors who were killed fighting the Mughals in the Battle of Khidrana in 1705. It was after this battle that Khidrana was named Muktsar, or the pool of liberation; the 40 warriors were liberated for recommitting to fight against the oppressive empire. Over the years, political conferences became the main attraction in this mela, and often set the political tone for the state with SAD, INC, and AAP all putting up big tents and ferrying people for their rallies. Since 2018, however, there have been attempts to reduce the number of conferences and de-politicize the festival. That has worked and now the political affairs are nominal. Along with the mela, unions also organize a big animal fair, especially with horses. A lot of people trade in animals at the fair, but this year the Panjab government hesitated to approve the inclusion of horses. This was due to fear of Glanders disease, which does not have a known cure and spreads very quickly among horses. It is fatal. However, after district wise testing, barring horses from Hoshiarpur district whose health was doubtful, the Panjab government allowed for the horse fair at Maghi Mela in Muktsar from January 9 to 16. In spite of the bitter cold, there was a huge turnout at the mela.