The sleepy Kothapatnam village came alive as scores of well-trained Ongole bulls exhibited their draught power under flood lights as drone cameras maintained surveillance during the boulder- pulling competition as part of the Sankaranti celebrations.
People from far and near poured into the sleepy village to enjoy the traditional sport till late in the night as the bulls with superior traits pulled boulders in a facile manner.
To avoid disputes in case of photo finish, the organisers for the first time used drone cameras to help the referees T. Sambi Reddy and T. Raghava Reddy. They had a tough time in umpiring the racing event as pairs of bulls from different parts of the State were involved in a close contest.
The awe-struck revellers, who filled every inch of space and lustily cheered their favourite bulls to run faster, were in no mood to accept any wrong decision in the ₹2-lakh prize money competition.
The competition this year was organised after four years as the authorities had denied permission in the wake of electrocution of four revellers in 2014.
The event was organised to encourage farmers to rear the majestic bulls and save them from going extinct as a majority of farmers had switched over to tractors for most farm operations, said the organiser M. Subba Rao. “We have taken special care to avoid cruelty to animals,” he said referring to replacing of nail-tipped sticks with ropes for prodding during the event held to showcase the strength of the bulls without causing injuries to them.
