Over one lakh devotees offer milk at Barah Khamba fair in Sehore's Devpura

More than one lakh devotees reached the Barah Khamba fair in Devpura village of Ichhawar tehsil in Sehore district today. Villagers have been arriving since morning. A day earlier, more than 50,000 devotees had come. It has been said that more than two lakh people will have attended the fair.

At the fair, members of the tribal community worship by offering milk on the stone of their revered deity and pray for the good health of their livestock. From morning to evening, the sacred stone is bathed with thousands of litres of milk. It is believed that if the milk of a milch animal is offered on the stone, the animal stays free of disease for the whole year. Devotees from other communities also come to the fair.

The Barah Khamba fair has been held in Ichhawar since ancient times. In Devpura village, 15 km from Ichhawar, stands the stone of the tribal community's deity, known as Barah Khamba wale Dev Maharaj. The stone once lay under a roof supported by 12 stone pillars, which is how the place came to be called Barah Khamba. Devpura village is now also called Barah Khamba.

A folk tale is also linked to the fair. According to it, a farmer in the village had animals that kept falling ill and dying after some time. One day in the forest the farmer met a cowherd. The cowherd told him to offer milk on Padwa, on the sacred stone among the twelve pillars, and said that doing so would keep the animals healthy through the year.

The farmer told the villagers. Since then, the tradition of offering milk on the stone on Padwa, the day after Deepavali, began, and the fair started to be held here.