Mylara fair

Mylara fair is one of the craziest fairs of Karnataka due to very large number of visiting people  and unique way of celebrations. A lead gentleman from Gorava community who fasted for 12 days , climbs a 12 feet  high bow and screams a prophecy about agriculture  and politics to the  people gathered  on the Karnikotsava  day which is the last day of fair . It was estimated that nearly 15 lakh people visit the last day of the fair from various parts of the state .

The fair starts 1 week before this day and lakhs people come on their carts, vehicle or by walk , tent here till the Karnikotsava day . Devotees take a holy dip in the river Ghataprabha and walk up to the Mylara lingeshwara temple who is the deity of Kuruba ( shepherd ) people . Free food was offered by families to the devotees as part of service to the gods.

Few interesting things to see iin this fair is the variety in the ethnic groups  that are coming to the fair. The fair is a  big event  for every village people in the radius of 100 kilometers regardless of religion or caste. Apart from villagers there are devotees who came from neighbouring states and traders who came from even Kolkata, Kashmir to sell their stuff! The makeshift shops were spread over 5-6 kilometers of land and anything was available!  Cattles, carts, vehicles, pets, agriculture needs,materials, daily consumables, cheap electronics, toys to vegetables, fruits, cloths  are  traded continuously  for 10 days of the fair !

 There were people who sold their goats to buy cheap cell phones and one guy even sold his snake to buy  a small  bicycle for his kid !

Being second largest fair in Karnataka Mylara fair is attracting more and more people every year. But one can easily see the losing  practices and faith , trustability , variety in ethnicity , rural shine   are being replaced by political and commercial gains,conflicts ,  cheating, communal clashes  and modern day utilities. Once a  used to be a great gathering of people and  cultures might just turn into an urban  fair  like the ones happen in cities soon.