The Gazetteers Department

'A number of annual fairs are held in the District, practically all of which find their raison d'etre in the commemoration of some local anchorite or saint or of a miraculous manifestation of one of the gods. At some of these the sales of grain and other articles of food, household utensils, ornaments and fancy articles are not inconsiderably, but though useful to the people as a means of obtaining their annual supplies of such articles and also as affording an occasion for an outing and a little excitement, the fairs no longer exercise any permanent effect on the trade of the District. Fairs of large or small size are held at Sonegaon, Bhidi, Rohni, Ghorad and Waigaon in Wardha tahsil; at Poti, Kapsi, Pardi, Pohna and Girar in Hinganghat tahsil; and at Dhaga and Rasulabad in Arvi tahsil. The fair at Girar is held in honour of the Muhammadan saint Khwaja Farid. This is not a regular fair but a series of gatherings of both Muhammadans and Hindus. The principal day for the Muhammadans is the 6th day of the month of Muharram and this date travels all round the year; a collection of about 2,000 persons takes place each day during Muharram. A Hindu fair is held on the festival of Ram Navami in Chaitra (April) and pilgrims visit the place on Thursdays and Sundays for about a month at this time. The fair at Dhaga takes place on the festival of Shivratri in March and lasts for four days. The attendance varies between 10,000 and 15,000. persons, and some hundreds of temporary shops are opened for the sale of goods. Two fairs take place at Sonegaon in honour of a local ascetic of great fame, one Abaji Maharaj. The first falls in June or July and the second and more important one in November or December, each lasting for four days. At the latter fair the attendance has in past years been as high as 45,000 persons, but it has recently declined. Two fairs are also held at Ghorad in April and November, of which the second is also the more important, the attendance being about 6,000. The fair at Rohni takes place in March on the day of Shivratri in honour of an old temple of Mahadeo which is supposed to have been built by the seer Vasistha, the same at whose bidding the Wardha river issued from the mouth of the boar incarnation of Vishnu. That of Poti also takes place in February or March lasting for 15 days, and that of Kapsi in January or February lasting for 15 days, and that of Kapsi in January or February lasting for ten days. The attendance at each of these fairs is about 5,000 persons on an average, Kapsi being the most important. A large fair is also held at Kaundinyapur in Berar situated on the Wardha river opposite Dewalwada. This commences 15 days after the Diwali festival."

Though fairs are still important from the point of view of retail transactions, they do not claim the same commercial importance as they did in the past. With the development of a multiplicity of retail shops in towns as well as in villages, the volume of transactions at the fairs has reduced considerably.

The Directory of Villages and Towns in this Volume mentions the fairs held at various places.

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