Kolkata: Moichara - The cattle race celebrating harvest

Sudip Chanda

India, an agro-economy based nation, welcomes and celebrates the harvesting season as a gala. And for over decades, villages across Canning has been fervently taking part in celebrating a unique festival that goes by the name "Moichara". The primary purpose of this cattle race is to test the capacity of the bulls before the start of cultivation in the rainy season and increase the fertility of the land. Moichara usually takes place during late June or early July. Local farmers decide upon a paddy field, and they come from neighboring villages with their bulls to race them in the waterlogged fields.