Lucknow, (Samajweekly) Two goats having birthmarks resembling ‘Allah’ in the Arabic language, have been sold for a whopping Rs 51 lakhs at the Bakra Mandi here, ahead of Bakri Eid festival.
While the 18-month-old Barbari goat, Salman, weighs 65 kg and has the birthmark on the right ear, Ghani, a Rajasthani goat, too has similar features.
The two goats are owned by local farmer Mushtaq Ahmad, 45, and are the costliest to be sold this year.
“Salman in Arabic means humble and loyal, while Ghani means rich and generous. I have got green dresses decorated with golden borders readied for the goats. While I bought Ghani from Rajasthan about a year ago, Salman was born in my house. These are expensive due to the presence of pious signs on them. I have also spent a fortune on their special diets,” said Ahmad.
The Bakra mandi has about one lakh goats of various varieties, like Barbari, Totapari, Punjabi Beetal, Kota and exotic breeds African Boer and Sanen (Switzerland), for sale.
Most of the owners have given interesting names to their animals like Pathan, Heera, Rajkumar and Tiger and the price starts from about Rs 10,000.
Dumbas (the fat tailed sheep of Turkish origin) and buffaloes are also up for sale.
As per Abrar Khan, who has been managing the mandi for about 10 years, the market seems promising this time.
“This year, we are hoping for a better sale than the past three years when the pandemic affected festivities. Not just exotic but heavy weight Barbari goats are also in huge demand,”said Abrar.
