Munching away in front of scores of onlookers at the Bangladeshi capital's biggest animal market, an overweight ash-coloured sheep looks tired and worn out. His owner, a cattle trader from north-western Bangladesh, however, is the happiest man in the market. As Bangladeshis prepare for Saturday's annual festival of Eid al-Adha, or feast of the sacrifice, Anwarul Mandal is looking forward to a handsome profit on his investment.
Mandal's asking price for the 100 kilogram (220 pound) animal is 3,800 dollars, one of the highest prices ever heard of for a sheep at Dhaka's Gabtali market.
Already a trader from the city's old quarter has offered 2,300 dollars.
"There is still some time left but if I get any price above 200,000 taka (3,300 dollars) I can consider selling. Otherwise, I will wait till Eid day," said Mandal who together with his brother Santu bought the sheep from an Indian trader.
Onlookers at the market told AFP they had never seen such a big sheep.
"It's unnatural," said Abul Hossain, who travelled eight kilometers (five miles) just to have a look.
Mandal said he was confident he would get a fair price for his sheep, which the seller told him had been brought from the western Indian state of Rajasthan.
"People now have money. They are spending thousands on sacrificial animals," he said.
Although nearly half the Bangladeshi population lives on less than a dollar a day, the country has a rich elite and a growing middle class with money to spend.
"We have already bought 40 cattle. We will buy 10 more today and send them to our relatives and friends as gifts. It's a tradition of our family," said buyer Faisal Hossain, nephew of an actor well known for playing a popular villain in Bengali movies.
Hossain said he had paid 950 dollars for each animal.
"These cattle are high quality and are raised on very fertile land," said one seller named Rashid.
Ayub Mia, a cattle trader from south-western Satkhira district, said he had transported 13 cattle to the market.
"Rich people want healthy looking cattle. They don't mind the price," he said, adding that he had sold one animal for 2,000 dollars. "On a normal day large sized cattle cost 25,000 taka (416 dollars) but during Eid their price varies from 60,000 taka (1,000 dollars) to 150,000 taka (2,500 dollars)," he added.
Market managers said more than 30,000 cattle, mostly imported from India, were on sale there each day.
Eid al-Adha marks the prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son Ishmael on the order of God.
The Muslim holy book, the Koran, says the archangel Gabriel offered a lamb in Ishmael's place after Abraham passed the test of his faith by raising his dagger toward his son.
Millions of animals are slaughtered each year to mark the second most important Muslim festival.
"On Eid-day we expect 1.5 million cattle and buffaloes and 1.5 million goats, sheep and lambs will be sacrificed," Tipu Sultan, president of the Bangladesh Leather Exporters Association, told AFP.
The festival is a boon for butchers, Muslim clerics and madrassa students who moonlight by going from house to house to sacrifice animals. Bangladesh, with 140 million people, is the world's third largest Muslim-majority country.
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