Livestock shandies in Manapparai, Siruvachur and Karur have been seeing vigorous sales of goats and sheep ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha (also known as Bakrid) this week, though traders reported dull business at Samaypuram market on Saturday.
“This year, with the Bakrid festival falling on Sunday, customers have already finished shopping for their qurbani (sacrificial) animals in advance in Sirvachur and Ayyanur, so there was not much footfall in Samayapuram,” Ramesh, a livestock contractor for the past 25 years at the market, told The Hindu. “We sold around 200 qurbani animals (weighing above 13 kg), and 2,000 smaller ones, for regular consumption on Saturday,” he said.
Buyers of qurbani animals prefer them to be hefty, yielding up to 30 kg of meat apiece. “Since Samayapuram traders brought only medium-sized goats and sheep (weighing less than 10 kg), they were priced at ₹8,000-₹10,000 each,” said Mr. Ramesh.
The contractor added that the increase in the number of shandies had spread the sector out. “With many markets being located close to each other, the livestock gets sold in different spots within the same week. Usually Siruvachur is good, but this week Ulundurpettai did good business,” he said.
Earlier in the week, traders saw better profits at the weekly Wednesday shandy in Manapparai, one of the oldest in Tamil Nadu. “Goats, sheep and cows were brought specially for Bakrid from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. I bought a qurbani goat weighing 18 kg for ₹23,000. Prices were going up to ₹50,000 per goat, and there were many bulk buyers of such livestock this year,” said Kadar of Manapparai.
In Karur district’s Kuntharapalli livestock shandy, 10,000 qurbani animals were reportedly sold on Thursday for a whopping ₹10 crore. Local media reports said that the price of animals ranged from ₹20,000 to ₹50,000.
Mutton stalls in Tiruchi reported brisk business on Saturday, as the number of those buying fresh meat for the festival went up this week. “We have had people booking their goats and sheep for slaughter and also those who want just meat in larger quantities today. With a kg of meat priced at ₹700, the city’s butcheries are seeing good profits this week,” said Mohamed of S.M. Jaila Mutton Stall in Puthur.
