The demand for organising kambala (slush-track buffalo race) is gaining strength in coastal Karnataka now. This follows the recent developments in Tamil Nadu with regard to organising jallikattu in that state.

Organising kambala had been stayed by the High Court following a petition by animal rights activists in this regard. The kambala organising committees in coastal Karnataka have sought vacation of the stay. The Karnataka High Court is scheduled to hear the case on January 30. All these years, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts were witnessing kambala events from November to March.

Popular sentiment

Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Monday, Abhayachandra Jain, Congress MLA from Moodbidri and Chairman of the Kambala organising committee in Moodbidri, said kambala is part of the culture of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts along coastal Karnataka.

Any move to ban such events will affect the sentiments of the people of the region.

Jain said people from various sections of society, cutting across the party line, are supporting the demand for organising the race kambala in these districts.

Gunapala Kadamba of Kambala Conservation and Training academy said the sport has become part of the activities related to paddy cultivation in many parts of coastal Karnataka since many years. There are kambala fields in many villages of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala, he said. Ashok Kumar Rai, member of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Kambala organising committee, said the committee, which met in Moodbidri on Sunday, has decided to take out a march in Moodbidri on January 28.

Around 200 kambala buffaloes will be taken in a procession to the Kambala field in Moodbidri on that day.

Stating that the committee will adhere to the High Court directive on kambala, he said there will not be any race on that day. However, the organisers are ready to host a kambala on that day, if they get some favourable legal solution to this issue before January 28.

Political support

Terming kambala as a traditional folk game of coastal Karnataka, BS Yeddyurappa, President of Karnataka BJP, said that the state executive committee of the party — which met in Kalaburagi last week — has taken a decision to support kambala. He was speaking to the media earlier in the day.

Yeddyurappa hoped that the High Court will come out with a favourable judgment on this traditional folk game.

Ravishankar Prasad, Union Law and Justice Minister, will be informed about the importance of kambala in the culture of coastal Karnataka, he added.

Related Topics