KAMBALA

Kambala, the Bull sport has raised many eyebrows after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a petition under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

Kambala is a traditional slush track buffalo race which is practised annually in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.  It is a popular sport among the farming community of the State. It is a festival which starts from November and lasts till March. It is inherently related to the rural ethos of the farming community.  Kambala sees the participation of 130-140 pairs of buffaloes and a crowd of around 20,000 spectators. As per a report in The Times of India, more than 45 Kambalas are held annually. The winner of Kambala also receives an award ranging from gold to cash rewards.

Early days one track( kare, ಕರೆ)  is used for the race but from past 50 years, double track ( ಜೋಡು ಕರೆ ) is in use for the races. But the single track is also in use for traditional Kambala in some regions for conducting time based races and training.

A runner will make a pair of Buffaloes run on a track of muddy water. The runner will be driving those buffaloes all along the race. The time is  recorded or  he gets   another competitor  on the other track to decide who is best  .

To train the racing buffaloes, owners build a track near their  home and make them run daily . The owners feed them with most nutritious  foods. During races they even get fruits like apples , oranges . They get special massages , some body treatments as well. Before the race owners are allowed to train on the actual racing track on which they are going to compete.

These are also specially trained people and one can easily spot them in the crowd. They are handsome, nicely shaped and very athletic . As one can guess they are like a sport persons. The owners hire them for the year and ask them to run all of their pairs of buffaloes. One runner might get multiple deals from different owners depending on his popularity. A good runner paid heavily and if he wins the bonus is also paid. Currently the deal goes 2 lakhs per year for a   reputed runner to participate in all of the kambalas.

There is a Kambala association for the  two districts( Udupi and Dakshina Kannada)  and there is written rules and regulations for conducting Kambala events. Each year before the season starts the members meet and decide the 15 Kambala dates . There are associations  for each  major Kambala locations which manage these events.

Symbolic Kambala, a traditional annual buffalo race in the marshy fields in coastal districts of the state, is also likely to be held as a mark of protest.

Karnataka High Court's division bench, headed by Chief Justice S K Mukherjee, in an interim order in November 2016 had stayed holding of Kambala on a petition by Peta challenging it in view of orders passed by the Supreme Court on jallikattu.