Kambala is the annual buffalo race of Tulu Nadu and a popular sporting event in coastal Karnataka. Celebrations typically commence after the paddy harvest season (October or November). The race takes place on two parallel tracks filled with mud and water. Each pair of buffaloes has a Kambala runner or jockey to control and command the animals on the track, and the winning team qualifies for advanced rounds.
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Chaitra Bhat of Bollampalli in Kundapur taluk, has initiated her kambala learning process by bringing a pair of buffaloes on behalf of her father during a recent Kambala event.
MANGALURU: Unlike most traditional games in the country, there is a sense of professionalism and competitiveness between the participants that distinguishes kambala, the game of Tulunadu.
It is only natural then that most kambala jockeys wish to leave an indelible mark in the sport. Among those eyeing such a distinction in this male-dominated game is Chaitra Bhat, 11.
Chaitra, the daughter of Parameshwara Bhat in Bollampalli in Kundapur in Udupi district, hogged the limelight at the recently concluded kambala event at Miyar when she introduced the pair of buffaloes her father owned and was fielding for his jockeys in the competition. She has also been training herself on a 110-metre long track at her father’s field. Chaitra is determined to run with the bulls at the traditional kambala events.
Women to be trained as announcers, flag-bearers and jockeys
MANGALURU: Women are likely to break the glass ceiling in a sport considered to be a man’s domain. The Kambala Academy is contemplating training women in various aspects of kambala, a buffalo race, and a traditional male-dominant sport of Tulunadu. The academy, after holding discussions with experts, is hoping to train women as announcers, flag-bearers and jockeys.
K Gunapala Kadamba, kambala expert, founder secretary, Dakshina Kannada Kambala Committee and convener, Kambala Academy, told TOI that the training will be imparted through the Kambala Academy. “Though the thought of training women in kambala has been in my mind for long, I got the confidence to take it forward after meeting filmmaker Rajendra Singh Babu, who is working on a film based on kambala. He told me that in case kambala has to get international recognition, then women have to be given representation. Women have entered all fields, be it Yakshagana,
Kambala welcomes women jockeys
From barring entry to women visitors to allowing women jockeys,
Kambala the traditional buffalo sporting race in slush paddy fields has come a long way. In a big move, now
Kambala Academy has decided to allow
women jockeys from 2022.
K Gunapala Kadamba, President, Kambala Academy and Founder-Secretary of
Dakshina Kannada Kambala Committee, said that the academy would issue a release inviting entries from women contenders once the current season concludes. The eligible women candidates will undergo a health check-up and then get selected for the training. This time, those who get selected will be trained by women coaches only. The training is likely to start in September and the women jockeys may be ready to take over the game from the next season.