VIJAYAWADA: Known for their royal looks and stamina, Ongole Bulls are back in action as part of Dasara festivities. This time they are showing their skills at Kesarapalli near Gannavaram.
Bull rearers from across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are participating in the competition that began on Sunday. “A total of 200 bull rearers from the State are participating,’’ GSK Group MD G Suman Kumar, one of the organisers of the competition, told TNIE. The competitions will be held till October 24.
“This is the first time that a national-level bull racing competition is being held in Andhra Pradesh. It has never been conducted on such a grand scale before. The budget for the event is pegged at `40 lakh. The winner gets a cash prize of `16 lakh,” Kumar said.
The excitement among the farmers and audience was palpable even before the race began. Once the bulls were brought to the track on a yoke, tied to an anchor weighing several kilogrammes and made to run, the frenzy of the audience reached its peak. Five or six men maneuvered the bulls as they advanced in big strides and reached the finish lines within eight or nine seconds. Whistles and cheers followed every time the bulls finished a round.
When TNIE approached the bull rearers, they said the race was a gamble as the cost of grooming these animals is hardly compensated unless they win.
“It takes Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 a month to feed them. We feed them milk, chicken, horse gram, bananas, and cashews. Most Ongole bulls do not have a resale value; they hardly fetch around `70,000 or `80,000. But if the bulls, fortunately, retain their strength, we could sell them for as much as `5 lakh or `6 lakh,” said D Srinivasulu from Kadapa.
“We have no choice, but to rear them as they are needed for tilling purposes. Their necessity in agriculture leaves us with no choice and so we participate in competitions like these where the possibility of winning is always slim. It is a gamble,” said B Chakradhar, a farmer from Kodali in Krishna district.
Meanwhile, the organisers claimed not to allow the rearers and owners to whip or prod the bulls or subject them to any kind of cruelty.
At a glance
Bull race organised at Rs 40 lakh
200 bull rearers from across
State are taking part
Winner of the race gets Rs 16 lakh
as prize money
Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 a month
to feed the bulls
Ongole bulls are fed milk, chicken, horse gram, bananas, cashews