The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Powerful bulls draw a granite boulder to and fro to lift the cup

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Friday, Jan 18, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Powerful bulls draw a granite boulder to and fro to lift the cup

G.V. Ramana Rao

Action-packed ‘Yedla Pandaalu’ organised as part of the Sankranti festivities, comes to a close at Velagaleru

Ongole breed bulls participate in the contest
Many of the contesting bulls belong to VIPs

PHOTO: RAJU. V

Grand finish: A pair of Ongole bulls being encouraged by trainers during a competition in Velagaleru near Vijayawada on Thursday. —

VELAGALERU (Krishna district): Two powerful bulls have to draw a one-and-half-tonne, flat-bottomed, boat-shaped granite boulder across a 300-foot court.

The pair of bulls that draws the boulder to and fro across the court maximum number of times in 25 minutes wins.

A pair of bulls dragged the boulder for a cumulative distance of 3,950 feet in the stipulated time to lift the cup.

This was the scene on Thursday, the final day of the three-day competition for bulls organised as part of the Sankranthi festivities at Velagaleru village near Vijayawada in memory of Chanumolu Bhaskar Rao, brother of Mylavaram MLA Chanumolu Venkata Rao.

These beasts of burden, draught animals as they are called, have to use all their strength and endurance to drag a 1.8-tonne boulder, which would be found difficult even for a dozen people to at least move a little, several times from one end of the court to the other. A tractor is kept ready to move the boulder to the starting point once the bulls are done with it. Only the bulls of the Ongole breed have the strength and the stamina to participate in these contests, says Myneni Venkateswara Rao, a bull-training expert.

The winning pair brings prestige and glory to the owner and also the village they belong to. Mr. Rao says that the season of ‘Yedla Pandaalu’ (competition for bulls) begins in December and goes on till May.

Prestige

Villages often attach lot of prestige to such competitions and take turns to conduct them. Many of the contesting bulls belong to VIPs and VVIPs. A pair of bulls that belongs to Minister R. Damodar Reddy won fourth prize in one of the categories, while the pair belonging to Gudivada MLA Kodali Srivenkateswara Rao was a hot favourite of the contest.

Narasimha Reddy, who volunteered to be the announcer for the contest, kept announcing, at the end of each round (300 ft), the time and distance covered by each pair of bulls in comparison with the other contesting pairs. And, now the crucial question: Do bulls drag the boulder by themselves?

Trainers say it takes seven men to encourage and cajole them to drag the 1.8-tonne boulder.

Contrary to expectations, they are not beaten. Whips are used only to make the cracking noise but not to beat the animals.

The trainers seem to be adept at communicating with the highly trained bulls with just words and gesticulations.

Now that the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on such competitions, the State Government too should encourage it as a rural sport, Mr. Rao said.

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