Rawal Shri Jaipal Singh addressed Chetak Festival in the press conference held in Mumbai. He told every detail about the festival. How it used to be and how it is now. As horses were the main means of transportation in the olden days, horse fairs used to be organized. Chhatrapati Shivaji visited this horse fair to acquire war horses of the highest quality.
Chetak Festival is more than 300 years old horse fair. It was first held as festival in 2011 to continue the legacy. It is held on the bank of river Tapi in Sarangkheda village of Nandurbar district. It is a celebration of the finest breeds of horses across the country. Horses are bought and sold in this festival. It recreates the vibrant heritage for those who value world-class equestrian spectacle. It has a historical background. It is named after Maharana Pratap’s horse which is recognized as a sign for loyalty because Jaipal himself and his ancestors believed that horses are humans’ friend.
This year, Chetak Festival will be held for 3 weeks and in the third week, career guidance seminar will be held for youth and to get equestrian sports a recognition which it doesn’t have. Many horse activities are organized like horse display, horse dance show, horse race, horse show competition, horse buggy ride and so on in the festival. Jaipal Singh also added that they have been trying to upgrade and update it every year and media plays a prominent role in it and this year they have also made several changes to it. Before media’s support, it was really hard to reach to the masses. He further added that Chetak Festival is the biggest horse festival in India. Every horse activities, sports can be seen in Sarangkheda. Government also supports it and wants to continue its legacy and helps in promoting it. They are planning to organize a rally from Chandigarh to Sarangkheda. Chetak Festival supports young people who admire and value horse and want to do something for horses.
