Animal ornament vendors make the most of Eidul Azha

The market offers flashy, colourful items for all sorts of pets, cattle and sacrificial animals

LAHORE: As the buying of sacrificial animals is in full swing, a cluster of around 20 small shops selling cattle specific accessories outside the Delhi gate is making the most of Eidul Azha when their business is most in demand, compared to other times of the year.



The market offers flashy items bursting with colours for all sorts of pets, cattle and sacrificial animals. Some of the famous and most in demand ornaments include garlands made of plastic beads commonly known as gaani or maalaa as well garlands made with elaborate paper flowers, pom-poms and bells; tikka - a small metal pendant for the animals’ forehead and jhajhar or ghungroo, metallic bracelets with beads and bells for feet.

Prices of these items range between Rs50 and Rs250.

The cattle ornaments market is located as a part of old Lunda Bazaar and serves as a sort of a wholesale retail for cart vendors who come from all over the city as Eidul Azha approaches.



An ornament maker and seller Shahid Ilyas while talking to The Express Tribune said that the market has been setting up at this place since pre-partition days. “I am unaware of its history beyond that but my family migrated from Amritsar, India during partition and imported the same craft and skill,” he added.

Earlier, business used to be good all year around, but with the city banning tongas (horse-drawn carriages), the sales went down eventually and a lot of shops closed down, he said.  “Almost 80% ornament makers I know in this market have closed their shops,” he said.



“It’s a family business that now I am struggling to keep up with,” he said. “I will have to go on with it since it’s the only skill I have.”

According to Ilyas, they brought the raw material for ornaments from nearby cities of Gujranwala, Kamoke and Kasur. Ilyas was of the view that the ornament selling business has also suffered a dent with new type of synthetic and plastic based materials available in the market, which are much cheaper. For example, a synthetic dog collar made from parachute fibre is sold for Rs100 as compared to leather collar which is sold for Rs300.

The history of decorating animals goes as far back as the Indus Valley Civilisation, which began domesticating animals and made offerings of garlands made of beads, terracotta bracelets, bangles and ornaments made of shells.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2017.