Putia’s pigeon haat gains popularity

Traditionally, Narsingdi's Putia is renowned for its pigeon market. In addition to the local Narsingdi area, buyers and sellers from various districts and upazilas from across the country come together in this market.

Narsingdi's Putia Haat holds immense popularity among pigeon enthusiasts. This market operates every Wednesday and Thursday, situated adjacent to Putia's cattle market. Local residents assert that Narsingdi's Putia Haat has a history spanning more than a century. Since its inception, the pigeon business has thrived in this locale.

We went to Shivpur's Putia Bazar in search of this Narsingdi's famous haat. From Velanagar we took a minibus to reach Baraitala and after that we went to Putia directly by an autorickshaw.

You can feel the atmosphere of the haat from distance when you see people selling fresh fruits, vegetables, clothes, toys, and other items along the road side.

We arrived at the haat around noon, and it was bustling with activity. The atmosphere was congested due to the large gathering of buyers and sellers.

As soon as we entered the haat, we met a pigeon seller named Munshi Niaz. He was spontaneously bargaining with two caged pigeons. Among the pigeons in his cage were the Deshi Gola and the Chinese Petrel. The price of Deshi Gola was 800 taka per pair while the price of Chinese Petrel is 1500 taka per pair. But in front of us, a bargainer bought a pair of Petrels for 400 taka only.

The man looked very knowledgeable about pigeons. When asked his name, he introduced himself as Setu, a resident of Narsingdi city. "Every week I go to Putia, Taltali, Charngardi, Arshinagar and other haats and buy pigeons. I currently have 20 pairs of pigeons." He collects various breeds of pigeons and then sells these.

Pigeon seller Nayan Mia said that he has been coming regularly to this haat from Kishoreganj for last 10 years to sell pigeons. He said, "I can sell 30-40 pigeons every weekend haat. The haat remains open from morning to evening but it is the most crowded at noon".

Shahadat Hossain who was sitting next to Nayan Mia has been selling all kind of necessary things to breed pigeons for about 12 years. He said, “Once pigeon business was very profitable in weekend haat but recently due to less buying and selling of pigeons, sales have reduced compared to previous time.”

Meanwhile, Badshah Mia said that he has been engaged with this business in this haat for last 15 years. Once he came to haat with seven Lahore pigeons. The price of each pair was 4000 taka. But if he gets 2200 taka from anyone then he will sell these. All the pigeons he has are pets at home. So the profit is quite good for Al-Amin. Currently, he has 30 pairs of pigeons in his home.

Badshah Mia said that three and a half years ago, he saw a pair of Chila Chuital was sold for 1.5 lakh taka in this haat. But now a days a pair of Chila Chuital are sold for a maximum of five thousand Taka. In the beginning, some people bought rare species of pigeons and bred them to increase production. As a result, pigeons are easily available at low prices.”

Ramim is currently studying in class eight of Maulvi Tofazzal Hossain High School in Kararchar. The little boy came to this haat to sell his three pet Kagji pigeons. Ramim said, “I like pigeons and birds a lot. But now I will sell them. My family asked me to sell them. They break our glassware and that’s why I have come here to sell them.”  

The sellers also sell different types of birds in this haat. Apart from the colorful Budgerigar birds, there are finches, doves, parrots. Johnny, a bird seller, informed that birds of the same breed have different prices according to different characteristics. For example, a pair of Budgerigar birds costs from 600 to 1500 taka. He also raised the price of finches up to Tk 600-1500 per pair. However, after looking at the experienced buyers around, it is understood that these birds are available at a very cheap price.

All kinds of local and foreign pigeons are available in this Putia haat. Gola, petrels, kagji, siraji, lahori etc. are very popular breeds of pigeons. Although pigeon haat holds in different places of Narsingdi but Putia’s pigeon haat is very popular for its tradition.