MANGALURU: Puttur MLA and Bengaluru Kambala Committee president Ashok Kumar Rai on Monday said that 116 Kambala buffalo owners have registered their names to participate in the first-ever Kambala to be held in Bengaluru on November 25 and 26.
Addressing reporters here on Monday, he said over 8 lakh people are expected to witness the event at the Palace Grounds. The committee’s aim is to make the two-day Kambala a record-breaking event and it will have the longest ‘kare’ (slush track) measuring 155 metres instead of the usual 145-metre one. The winner of the race will be given a cash prize of Rs 1.50 lakh.
“The idea behind organising Kambala in Bengaluru is to bring the issues faced by the Tulu-speaking community in the capital city to the notice of the government. Our target is to have at least 125 pairs of buffaloes participating in the event. We will provide Rs 50,000 to each buffalo owner as transport cost. We will set up stalls showcasing the traditional delicacies of Dakshina Kannada,” he said.
The name of the Kambala track in Bengaluru will be finalised in a few days. “Proceedings of the Kambala will be spent on a Tulu bhavan in Bengaluru. A proposal to sanction one acre of land for the purpose will be put forth before the government during the event,” Rai said.
Actors Rajnikanth, Sunil Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Yash and Darshan and cricketer KL Rahul will participate in the event. Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is yet to confirm her participation. Actor Anushka Shetty will inaugurate the event, he said.
On the demand to make Tulu as an official language, he said they have written to five departments in this regard and have received “No Objection Certificate” from one of them.