Assam: Fish markets flooded with customers on the occasion of Uruka

On the eve of Uruka, a significant day leading up to Assam's Magh Bihu festival, the fish markets in Guwahati as well as across the state experience an extraordinary surge.

People have been making a beeline to fish markets since morning of January 14 as a spectacle of carnival envelops the state, with fish markets showcasing their prized and the most heaviest fish to be brought by customers for the grand Uruka feast, ahead of Magh Bihu. 

This phenomenon is deeply rooted in the traditions of the harvest festival, where the preparation of a grand feast is central to the celebrations. People throng at the city fish market on Uruka Day, reflecting the high demand for fresh produce and freshwater fish that are integral to the culinary practices of this festive occasion.

The markets become a visual spectacle, brimming with the freshest vegetables and an abundance of fish, which are key ingredients for the feast. The importance of fish in the Uruka feast is such that every businessman and woman in Assam aims to sell their best produce for this special day, be it vegetable growers, fishermen, or livestock farmers.

The culinary guide to Assam's harvest festival highlights the significance of fish in the Uruka feast, where dishes like roasted fish, fish cooked with seasonal vegetables, masor khorika (skewered fish), and patot diya mas (fish steamed in banana leaves) are savored by the community. These delicacies, along with other food items like dal cooked with vegetables, torkari or labra, and various types of pitha, make the Uruka feast a time for family and community to bond over shared meals and celebrate the end of the harvesting season.

It is a time when the community comes together to share in the bounty of the harvest, and fish plays a starring role in the feasts that mark this joyous occasion.