MANGALURU: After the Animal Welfare Board clamped a ban on Kambala (buffalo race), it might train its guns against Kori Katta or cock fight, a popular folk sport in the coastal regions, particularly Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
Board officials on conditions of anonymity told Express that Kori Katta is another cruel folk game of the coastal region. The sport is also popular in other areas of Karnataka as well as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
This folk sport has an element of gambling as each cock that takes part in the fight has a heavy bet placed on it. The betting can go up to Rs 1 lakh.
The cocks are strapped with sharp metal spurs (called balu in Kannada and Tulu) around its legs and each time the birds jump and strike each other, the spurs slice through their flesh.
After a fight, the winning cock is often exhausted. Bettors attend to its wounds, give it some water and rest to get it ready for the next fight.
In a letter to one Dr Amrut Malla of Puttur recently, animal activist Maneka Gandhi, who is also Union Minister for Women and Child Development, expressed her anguish about Kambala and Kori Katta. Dr Malla told Express, “She (Maneka Gandhi) minced no words and the tenor of the letter displayed determination. She wanted it to become a people’s movement.”
The special fighter cocks are reared with high protein and are brought from Salem, Coimbatore and Ernakulum in Kerala. There were efforts to rear them in Mangaluru, but the same quality could not be attained.
Each fighter cock costs nothing less than Rs 12,000. While some winner cocks survive one fight and are made ready for the next, others succumb to injuries and end up as food on the plates of their owners.
Shirva Kambala Low Key Event
Shirva: People of Shirva-Nadibettu restricted Kambala this time to just a religious ritual following the ban order by the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi on the buffalo race. According to the organisers, the Kambala was held in honour of the village spirit. The villagers believe that if they do not offer the Kambala, the village may face bad luck. After the poojas, elders took the decorated buffaloes on a walk. The ceremony was held for just over an hour on Sunday while usually it to goes for over 18 hours.