With pleasant weather, shops in old Agra markets well stocked with clothes, fancy skull caps, colourful handkerchiefs and scarfs, and bazaars full of goats, the Taj city was high on festive fervour on the eve of the Eid Tuesday.
"The sacrificial goats will be bought Tuesday, though many have already got their prized catch a day earlier. The price has gone up this year by at least a thousand, up from Rs.7,000 to Rs.8,000" for an average sized goat, the Haat in-charge at the Idgah.
Agra's biggest market for goats is on Fatehabad Road, where goats have been sold between Rs.7,000 to Rs.40,000.
"Yes, one bakra (goat) was indeed sold for Rs.1 lakh. It's a beautiful animal and meets all parameters for qurbani (sacrifice)," said Nasir Hussain. "People, out of love, name the animals after film stars, Salman Khan, Prem Chopra and so on," he said. Sacrificial goats should not only be healthy but also look attractive, he added.
Coinciding with the Haj pilgrimage, on Bakr-i-Eid, Muslims sacrifice a goat or sheep to "commemorate the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim, who willingly agreed to kill his son at the behest of God. But due to his intense devotion, God saved his son and instead a goat was sacrificed," explained a Muslim scholar.