ONGOLE: The sleepy Alluru village in Prakasam district came alive as scores of bulls exhibited their strength during a cart race organised coinciding with the Makara Sankranti, the harvest festival, in the land of Ongole bulls.
The revellers had a gala time, lustily cheering the “amateur bulls” brought by the proud farmers for the ‘Yadlabandi Raadhadi’ contest which brought to limelight the indigenous culture of south coastal Andhra.
Only those bulls, which are being engaged in farm operations on a regular basis, are allowed to pull the two-wheeled carts, whose wheels are immobilised to hinder their mobility.
The pair of bulls owned by P. Nagamanasa from Rajupalem won the first prize of ₹5,000, followed the ones owned by M. Ramamurthy of Padarsi ₹4,000. The pair of bulls owned by P. Sivakumar from Rajupalem finished third to win a purse of ₹3,000 and the ones owned by Y. Subba Rao of Kothapatnam got ₹2,000.
K.Yesudas and Shanta Rao acted as referees. Village Revenue Officer P.Polaiah and Festival Organising Committee president U.M.Subba Rao gave away the prizes.
The purpose of the event is to rekindle interest in natural farming at a time when tractors threaten to edge out the traditional farmers' friend, from fields altogether as the ryots are under pressure to go for cost cutting in the wake of ever-increasing cost of all farm inputs.
Unlike the Jallikattu in neighbouring Tamil Nadu which caused grievous injuries to bull tamers as also the bulls, the event only showcased the strength of the bulls without wounding either the people or the animals.
