Sports, particularly the ones which involve animals, are often interesting to watch. One such sport is bullock cart racing. It is a popular and traditional sport in Western Maharashtra, Pune, and Karnataka as well. Recently, a bullock cart race was held in Hiremagalur village, Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka. It was jointly organised by the members of Ganapathi Seva Samithi and HD Thammaiah Fan Club. HD Thammaiah is a Congress MLA from Chikkamagaluru. More than 70 bullock cart owners from all over Karnataka arrived for the competition. According to the Local 18 report, participants spend a lavish sum of money on training the bullocks for 2 days. People from the districts Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Davanagere and Chitradurga took part in the event.
Bullock cart racing has received scathing criticism from animal rights activists. Recently, animal rights activists launched an online petition opposing the traditional buffalo race, Kambala (annual bull race or bullock cart race) in Karnataka. The petition is titled Kindness for Kambala Karnataka. It advocates the humane treatment of animals involved in the race. The petition comes ahead of the scheduled Kambala at Bengaluru’s Palace Grounds on November 25 and 26. It will be the first time this event will take place in the city. In the plea, the petitioners urged that the conduct of Kambala be allowed only if it ensures “no unnecessary pain or suffering to the animals”.
The activists also argued that the event often resulted in the violation of Section 4 (F). This section emphasises the preservation and safety of native buffalo breeds. In the past, there have been instances of incidents of human injuries and alleged cruelty towards animals.
Kambala is a traditional buffalo race in paddy fields filled with slush and mud. This generally takes place in coastal Karnataka (Udupi and Dakshina Kannada) from November to March.
Bullock cart races are also a famous event in Punjab’s Kila Raipur village’s three-day Olympics, an event which began 90 years ago in 1933.
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