HUBBALLI: You will know the meaning of a battering ram when you see ‘Solillada Sardara’ in action. He has never been on the horns of a dilemma, ever ready for a fight. This ram from Bagalkot, whose name means an unbeatable ruler, is living up to his name. In the last one year, he has not lost any fight.Mental Manja is no mean ram either. He is known to be hard hitting, attacking the opponent even after it is down!While a number of rural sports are dying, the ram fight in some districts of North Karnataka enjoys the patronage of people, politicians and businessmen. So much so that the prize money in mega fights is Rs 50,000.
Such is the craze that there are groups of social media backing their favourite rams. These platforms also have the dates and locations of ram fights held in the region.The fight is a regular ritual in Bagalkot, Dharwad and some parts of Belagavi, Davanagere and Uttara Kannada districts. In Bagalkot the fights are organised almost on every weekend. The demand and popularity of the sport has given rise to a number of groups who are now raising rams for contests. Hubballi and Dharwad alone have many such training centres where young rams are put through a strict diet and an exercise plan is drawn to train them for the fights.
When the rams are one-and-a-half-year old they are enrolled in the training programme. They are tied to the back of a bike and made to run, and made to swim in specially-created ponds or in lakes. They are made to smell other rams, a customary ritual, before the fight begins. The head-hitting, the signature symbol of rams, is taught to the fighting animals. The diet includes boiled eggs, grass, cattle fodder and grains. The rams are tied to a pole and sometimes force-fed in order to ensure they gain strength for the fights.
“Raising of each ram costs the owner about Rs 250 per day. The upkeep is important as owners or raising teams take it as a prestige issue. Some rams are famous and they take part in the duels — from Davanagere to Belagavi. Some teams in Bagalkot are making a living out of ram fights and they attend most of the duels around,” says Ritesh G from Hubballi. Ritesh is raising ‘Jai Bhavani Ramachari’ sheep and it has already won a number of contests.
“Ram fight organisers have to take the permission of the local police. The fights are monitored by the police so that there are no incidents of clashes over the judging. The police also ensure that there is no betting around the playing arena during the fights,” says Ritesh.
The fights are sponsored by politicians, businessmen and organisations through crowd funding. The winning rams fetch around Rs 50,000 in mega events. The fights which occur on a regular basis have rams earning around Rs 30,000 as prize money.
A flat ground is prepared and it’s barricaded using wooden sticks. The audience and the organisers sit around the Kana (ground). In rural areas, ‘kana’ is considered holy where nobody is allowed to enter it wearing footwear. But the duels in cities do not follow any such restriction.
Ram fights are being held in an organised way in the last three decades. Dharwad district is home to a number of rural sports.“Sports like Kobri Hori are organised on a regular basis. The government must popularise such rural sports and give them a touch of cultural tourism that can attract visitors from outside,” suggests H A Kakhandiki, a senior writer from Dharwad.
THEY FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL
The fighting rams are chosen based on their dental growth. For instance, a two-year-old male sheep will have four pairs of teeth and another pair of teeth is added in the next six months. By the fourth year, a male ram will have four pairs of teeth and by this, duels are fixed in different categories. The owners pull the rams into the middle of the arena and make them smell each other. Then they are released for head-butting and the ram which falls first, or withdraws in scale is out of the contest. The ram which wins the maximum duels and survives wins the prize.