Odisha Celebrates Chadakhai After Kartik Purnima, Too Bad It’s A Saturday

Prawns to Bhekti, from mutton to chicken, Chadakhai is the day for the foodies and Habishyalis to indulge themselves in some non-vegetarian ‘sin’.

While the non-vegetarian community in Odisha waited patiently for the holy Kartik Month to get over so that they can again go back to savouring their favourite non-vegetarian food, the falling of Chadakhai on a Saturday (Today) has somewhat dampened the fervour.

There are three kinds of eating habits which generally prevail in our society; Vegetarian, non-vegetarian and the ones who turn vegetarian only on specific days of a week owing to their religious belief.

With Chadakhai falling on a Saturday, not only the people who do not eat non-vegetarian food on Saturday, it did not ring the cash counters of sea-food vendors as much as it should. The business of the fish and meat sellers has also dampened a bit.

A fish seller at Unit-4 market in Bhubaneswar said, “Though today is Chadakhai, we do not expect much sales because a lot of people do not eat non-vegetarian food on a Saturday in Odisha. However, I look forward to a good sale tomorrow.”

Speaking about the price of fishes, the vendor said that there is almost no increase in the price today. The prices remain mostly the same throughout the Kartik month and it the same for Chadakhai too.

As per reports, mutton (goat meat) has been selling at a price of Rs 750 per kg. While broiler chicken is being sold at Rs 230, the price of country chicken (Desi Chicken) is hovering in between Rs 350 – 400.

Similarly in the seafood market, Pomfrets are being sold at Rs 700 per Kilo while the delicious Hilsa (Ilish) has a price tag of Rs 1000 – 1200 in Bhubaneswar.