Kambala season begins to enthuse local folks in coastal Karnataka

News Network
December 17, 2022

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Kambala, the traditional buffalo race event popular in the coastal Karnataka districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasaragod of Kerala, has embarked on a new season, entertaining tourists and the rural population in the region known as Tulu Nadu.

The first kambala (buffalo race in slushy paddy fields) of the season was set in motion at Kakkepadavu in Bantwal taluk of DK district on November 26.

Priest Raghavendra Bhat performed the rituals and temple pujari Yogindra Bhat inaugurated the ‘Sathya Dharma Kambala’ at the venue, which entered its decennial year. A total of 22 competitive kambalas have been tentatively scheduled for the 2022-23 season till April 8 next year, according to district Kambala committee president Rohit Hegde Yermal.

The last Kambala has been scheduled at Panapila in Moodbidri on April 8, 2023.

The events to be held at Bolangala near Mudipu and Panapila are the two new Kambalas which have been added to the season’s calendar. The kambala track at Bolangala is getting ready while the track at Panapila has already been prepared, sources said. Kambalas are usually held at 18 to 20 places in the region on behalf of the committee every year.

The number rose to 22 this season due to the apparent enthusiasm among the youth who are more attracted to the event in recent years. The sixth edition of Mangaluru Kambala under the aegis of Capt Brijesh Chowta will be held on January 22 at the Goldfinch city ground. Former MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik said Kambala sport needs to be preserved for future generations and youth need to be actively taking part in it.

The rich culture of the coastal belt through Kambala should be maintained, he said, seeking the support of all for the sixth Mangaluru kambala.

Two Kambalas at Katapadi (Beedu kambala) to be held on February 11, 2023, and Aikala (Bava Kambala) on January 28 are more than 100 years old and were once traditional events which later turned into competitive ones.

The competitive kambala events are held on two parallel race tracks filled with slushy fields. Buffalo owners and farmers in the region take good care of their buffalos and the best of them are well fed, oiled and nurtured for a race in kambala. Buffaloes are usually raced in pairs during a kambala event, held together with ploughs and ropes. The best of Kambala buffaloes can cover a 140-meter race track in around 12 seconds. The jockey or kambala runner is the man commanding the buffaloes and races along with them and only the most athletic youth can handle the animals.

The runner stands on a wooden plank (known as halage) supported to the setup that holds two buffaloes together (called Negilu). The Kambala runner controls the buffaloes with a whip or ropes.

The runner also entertains spectators by splashing water as high as possible during the race. Two teams of buffaloes along with their jockeys race towards the finish line on the two parallel race tracks. Race goes on all day and winners qualify for the next rounds. Kambala events usually begin in November after the October paddy harvest is done. More than 45 villages in coastal Karnataka celebrate the traditional, non-competitive kambala race every year. Major Kambala events are held at Aikala, Katapadi, Pilikula, Mangaluru, Moodbidri, Puttur, Paivalike, Kakkepadavu, Kulur, Surathkal, Uppinangadi, Vamanjoor and Venur.

Kambala has become an organised rural sport, with elaborate planning and scheduling to accommodate competitions at different places. While traditional Kambala was non-competitive with pairs running one by one, in the modern event, the contest generally takes place between two pairs of buffaloes. The winning pair of buffaloes were usually rewarded with coconuts and bananas. At present, winning owners earn gold and silver coins and in many competitions, cash prizes are also awarded. The length of the kambala tracks varies from 133.5 metre to 150 metre and has width from 15 feet to 17 feet.

The competitions are held in six categories of Kane halage, adda halage, hagga senior, hagga junior, naegilu hiriya and naegilu kiriya. More pairs of buffalos are expected this year for the hagga junior competitions as many youngsters are showing more interest in taking part in the events, a Kambala committee member said. The kambalas for the 2021-22 season, which began on November 27 last year, had to be temporarily cancelled due to the weekend curfew and other Covid-19 restrictions, after holding only six of the 19 scheduled events.

The events resumed on February 5, 2022 after the lifting of the curfew with a renewed calendar, listing 11 kambalas between February 5 and April 16. The kambala committee counts at least 100 jockeys taking part in the events in the region. Of them, 8 to 10 are top performers while around 20 have already displayed their brilliance in the sport. One of the jockeys, Srinivas Gowda, a construction worker, had shot into the limelight in 2020, when he covered 142.5 metres in 13.62 seconds, which when back-calculated, equates to 100-metre run in around 9.55 seconds. It was 0.03 seconds faster than Usain Bolt’s record time of 9.58 seconds. Many compared his feat to that of Bolt and Gowda was termed as the ‘Usain Bolt of Kambala.’

Later, he himself said putting him on the same plane as Usain Bolt would be a bit of a stretch. The race involves the athlete maintaining momentum with some help from his racing buffaloes.

Kambala had also stirred controversy in the past with the charge of ill-treatment of animals. In 2016, the event was banned for the first time by the High Court, based on a petition by animal rights activists group PETA. Just like the row over jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, a heated debate followed with arguments of people supporting the event and those against the rural sport. The state government later brought an ordinance in 2017 to pave the way for the continuance of kambala. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka second amendment) Act, 2017, permits kambala to be organised with restrictions to protect the animals from mistreatment. The Supreme Court has also issued several guidelines to ensure that kambala buffaloes are not harmed, tortured or ill-treated during the races. 

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News Network
November 13,2024

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Bengaluru: An estimated overall 10.14 per cent voter turnout was recorded during the first two hours, since the voting began for bypolls to three Assembly segments in Karnataka on Wednesday, election officials said.

The voting began at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm.

More than seven lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates are in the fray.

While Channapatna recorded 10.34 per cent voter turnout till 9 am, it was 10.08 per cent in Shiggaon, and 9.99 per cent in Sandur, election officials said.

Voters, including women and elderly were seen queuing up in front of polling booths in these segments.

By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna are necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives -- E Tukaram of Congress, former CM Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) -- to Lok Sabha in May elections.

As many as 31 candidates are in the fray from Channapatna, while Sandur and Shiggaon have six and eight contenders, respectively.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in the three segments for the smooth conduct of the polls.

The by-polls will witness a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Sandur and Shiggaon segments, while in Channapatna, JD(S) which is part of the NDA alliance is in contest against the grand old party.

Among the three segments, Channapatna is considered to be a "high profile", where the contest is between C P Yogeeshwara, a five time MLA from the segment and former Minister, who joined the Congress quitting BJP ahead of nomination, and actor-turned -politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is Kumaraswamy’s son and former PM H D Deve Gowda's grandson.

BJP's Bharath Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, is fighting Congress Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, who had faced defeat against the former Chief Minister in the 2023 Assembly polls, in Shiggaon.

Bharath Bommai and his father cast their vote at a polling booth in Shiggaon segment.

In Sandur, Bellary MP Tukaram's wife E Annapurna of Congress is contesting from the seat vacated by her husband, against, BJP ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu, who is considered close to party leader and former mining barron G Janardhan Reddy.

Annapurna, Tukaram and other family members cast their votes at a booth in the segment.

With Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai contesting, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai families are in the fray in this by-poll. Both their fathers and grandfathers have served as Karnataka's Chief Ministers in the past.

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News Network
November 14,2024

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Bengaluru: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led union government has requested the Karnataka High Court to direct the Mandya district administration and the state government to clear a madrasa operating within the premises of the historic Jama Masjid in Srirangapatna.

The Waqf Board, opposing this move, has claimed the mosque as its property and defended the right to conduct madrasa activities there.

The matter was brought before a division bench headed by Chief Justice N V Anjaria following a public interest litigation filed by a person named Abhishek Gowda from Kabbalu village in Kanakapura taluk. The petition alleged “unauthorised madrasa activities” within the mosque.

Representing the Central government, Additional Solicitor General of India for High Court of Karnataka, K Arvind Kamath argued that the Jama Masjid was designated as a protected monument in 1951, yet unauthorised madrasa operations continue there.

He noted that concerns over potential law and order issues have so far prevented any intervention. Kamath urged the court to direct the Mandya district administration to take action and vacate the madrasa from the mosque.

In defence, lawyers for the state government and the Waqf Board contested this request, stating that the Waqf Board had been recognised as the owner of the property since 1963 and, thus, conducting madrasa activities there is lawful.

After hearing both sides, the bench adjourned the case for further arguments, scheduling the next hearing for November 20.

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News Network
November 14,2024

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday backed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his claim that the BJP had offered Rs 50 crore each to 50 Congress MLAs in an attempt to "topple" the state government.

Addressing reporters here, Shivakumar, also the Congress state president, said, “The BJP indeed lured 50 Congress MLAs with Rs 50 crore each.”

He defended Siddaramaiah’s statement and said the Congress MLAs were briefed about the BJP’s alleged 'Operation Lotus', a term used to describe the BJP's attempts to destabilise ruling governments through horse-trading.

“Some of our MLAs informed the Chief Minister about this matter, and he, in turn, shared it with the media,” Shivakumar said.

At an event in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah reiterated the claim that "none of the Congress MLAs had accepted the offer".

He also accused the BJP of filing false cases against him in a bid to "remove him and overthrow his government".

The BJP has yet to respond to the allegations.

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