Ballia

Ballia

11 MAy 2009

Ballia

Ballia is an ancient city where great saints and sages of India including Valmiki, Bhrigu, Durvasa,and Jamadagni had their ashrams.

Dadari Mela

An annual fair, the Dadari-Mela, is celebrated on a fairground at the junction of the Ganges and the Ghaghara, on the city's eastern boundary. Regular connectivity with nearby districts as Mau, Azamgarh, Deoria, Ghazipur and Varanasi exists by means of Railway and Roadways. It is world's largest cattle fair. I never had a chance to visit the mela, but it is in the list of places that I have to visit.

The Mela is held at Dadri, which is 5 km. from Balia town. Starting from 'Kartik Purnima' in the months of October-November, the two -week long fair is an amalgam of people from far and close to who come to buy and sell cattle.



Language

Bhojopuri is a very sweet language that is spoken in Ballia. The bhojpuri songs have very natural soothing rhythms. Bhojpuri is a variation of Hindi.

Important Personalities

Ballia is the birth place of Mangal Pandey, Asim Ahmed 1987 from quazipura.,Shaikh Habibullah 1941, Manager Singh (Ex -MLA) (Malviya of Dwaba)1920-1993, Gauri Shankar Rai, Chandra Shekhar (Ex Prime Minister).Sanaullah Ansari From Quazipura Play a vital role. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi,Jaiprakash Narayan Some other notable figures from the Quit India Movement include Pt. Tarkeshwar Pandey and Murli Manohar.




Chhath Puja

Chhath is a festival dedicated to the Surya - Sun Goddess(not God). It is celebrated with zeal in Ballia. Chhath is considered to be a means to thank the sun for bestowing the bounties of life in earth and fulfilling particular wishes. Worship of sun has been described in the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu scriptures, and hymns praying to the sun in the Vedas are found.


People of Ballia have migrated to other place in India due to pressure on land and in search of jobs. They celebrate this festival in their newly relocated place of stay.