Sadar festival to be celebrated on Nov 17

The Yadav community in Hyderabad is all set to celebrate the traditional Buffalo festival ‘Sadar’ on Tuesday. The 25-time champion Sartaj, weighing about 1,600kg and Shahenshah, weighing 2,000kg, both from Haryana, will be special attractions at the carnival of buffaloes, one of the biggest such congregations in the city.

Over the last few weeks, the Yadav community has been busy making elaborate arrangements for the festival.

Edla Hari Babu Yadav, the chief organiser, said: “We are making arrangements to celebrate Sadar on a grand scale. There will be five buffaloes. The procession will start from Musheerabad and end at Narayanaguda YMCA, where there will be the biggest congregation of all.”

Sartaj and Shahenshah, both stand over 6-foot, and have a detailed diet plan. They are given nearly 25 litres of milk, 30 litres of water and



several kilos of different kinds of dry fruits such as badam, cashew and apples along with cereals and black jaggery every day.

On festival day, several buffaloes will be adorned with paints, ornaments and garlands and paraded through the streets, often accompanied by the crowd dancing to ‘teen maar’ beats. The buffaloes will perform stunts and will be made to stand on their hind legs.

The male head of the Yadav family selects the strongest male buffalo to be taken out in a parade. Then all the buffaloes are displayed to the head of the community and the best-decorated one brings home the prize. It is considered a great honour for the family when their buffalo is rewarded.

The celebrations will be no less than a colourful carnival with sword fighting and dances performed by the local communities.