Bull Race Fair (Daand Mela) in Chakswari Mirpur Azad Kashmir
Bull-races are often held in villages in the countryside of Pakistan. There is an annual Daand Mela (Bull Race Fair) held in Chakswari Mirpur Azad Kashmir.
The bulls and Driver are timed around an oval track one by one. Apparently the bulls can cost thousands of dollars (US) and are well looked after.
Chakswari is a Tehsil (town) in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. Chakswari comprises partly plain and partly hilly areas. Chakswari has pleasant scenery and the climate is generally arid, characterized by hot summers and cool winters. There is little rainfall. The town is modern and a shoppers paradise. The current population of Chakswari is around twenty thousand. Chakswari boasts the biggest house-building boom after Mirpur. Chakswari is known for its excellent shopping areas and its large shopping plazas for which most of the wholesale shops are located. There are many stores, plazas, shopping malls & markets in these thoroughfares, selling everything from hand made pottery to international brands.
The majority of the population speak the Mirpuri dialect of Pothwari, the second most spoken language of Kashmir after Kashmiri. A large number of inhabitants emigrated to the United Kingdom between the 1950s and 1980s. The people of this area are agriculturalists belonging to the Jatt, Rajput & other castes, with strong cultural links to the Pothwar region of Pakistan.
Within the Chakswari area are the villages of Rachyal,Susral, Kalyal}, thothaal, Palaak, Panyam, Lidder Marri, Dhangri Bahadur, Dhangri Bala (with a famous local mosque), Thangdev, Barootian hillla matee (on the main road to Mirpur), Ban Dhamali, Pinda Colony, Pukka Dularh, Issar, and Khannabad. Just over the bridge to the south of Barootian are the villages of Kaneli and Rarah with Islamgarh (Akalgarh) further south. The most famous village in the history of Azad Kashmir is located in the epicentre of Chakswari widely known as 'Teekhriyan.'
