One of the greatest and oldest sports still thrives in the parts of Karnataka and is attracting more and more people to be part of it.
Puttur, is a small town in the district of Dakshin Kannada famous for the Birumala Gudde hills and the 800-year-old Mahalingeshwara temple. From the outside the town is small and quiet, where the facilities are basic and the people are warm and welcoming. But, also holds a best-kept secret—a 2000-year-old game of cockfighting, which thrives in the heart of Puttur.
Here, people choose to go retro when it comes to entertainment and enjoy cockfighting, especially in the coastal areas of Karnataka such as Puttur and Mangalore. Gambling goes hand in hand with cockfighting.
Even though some people decide not to gamble on cockfights, they do enjoy the animal cruelty involved. Beltamme’s family in Puttur, who are involved in cockfights said, “We do get involved in cockfights occasionally. Even though we don’t bet on the cocks or get involved in the betting business. In
| A seven-month-old cock which will be trained to fight. |
order to make the rooster aggressive and ready to fight, it is kept isolated and separated from other roosters.”
A research paper from Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research(IJIR) said “Cock-Fighting has been an old sport. It was widely advertised in the eighteenth century. Most of the fights were held in an inn that was specially prepared or in a cockpit. The Cockfighters selects two types of fighting cock—one is called Desi Morog and another variety is called Pahari Morog. The modern methods of feeding are eight to ten days for chickens and stags, and ten to fourteen days for cocks. The training of a fighting cock is very interesting. When the age of the cock will be six months, then the owner of the cock brings his cock in the fighting area, in every Sporting day. The fighting-places can vary according to the size of the place and the organizers.”
It is a tradition which has been followed from generation to generation. Saraswati, a Beltamme family member said, “We don’t do it for the money, we have been participating in this activity for a few years now. We believe that it a good luck before starting something new just like how people sacrifice goats to the gods.” Though the tradition is followed by this family for quite some time now none of them could explain the historical aspect of it and why exactly they have been following it until now.
In Puttur, Cockfights are organized in an open ground behind a Hindu temple. Normally, the set up involves a tent which houses the cockfights, another tent where people bet. In the centre, there would be many cocks tethered to a rock, waiting for their turn to jump in the cockpit to fight.
Sadashiv bandari, the Panchayat President from the BJP, who was organizing one such event, said, “The fight is going on currently but there will be no photography or video as none of the men want the police to know about this activity.”
Sareef, Muslim autowala in Puttur said, “The Muslims don’t indulge in these kinds of activities as it “haram” for them. You will never find any Muslim indulging in these activities. Which shows the sport is solely enjoyed by Hindus in the coastal areas of Karnataka.”
Cockfights have been termed illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 in India. However, it is practiced in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra and other states, said a PETA official. Roosters raised for fights are often confined to cramped cages and are traumatized during the training. This shows that even after the ban of Cockfight it is still thriving and it has been commercialized so much that it has become a regular business in the rural areas.
Usually, razor-sharp spurs are attached to the bird’s feet to make the fights gory. The birds suffer from broken wings, legs, punctured lungs, severed spinal cords and gouged-out eyes. Plus, those roosters that survive the fights are forced to fight again.
The other part of Karnataka where you can often find cockfight is Sagar, a taluk in Shimoga where cockfighting happens on every Sunday afternoon in the areas where police can’t reach them. People around here try to keep it as secretive as possible.
Mr. Ravi Prakash, a salon owner in Sagar, who often indulges in cockfighting said “the tradition thrives in this area so much that the betting goes up to lakhs. I’ve been one of the regulars. I participate and enjoy this sport very much.”
Some of the local men, who often participate or enjoy the activity said “It happens every Sunday here in the afternoon for a few hours and there are some places within the villages where cops can’t reach them easily. There are many shops where you can buy the rooster according to the size and colour. They also said that the police know about some of the fights but the local men bribe them and they let it go.”
There is evidence that cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilization. The sport was popular in the ancient times in India, China, Persia, other Eastern countries and Ancient Greece. In India, cockfighting remained an ancient religious ritual, a sacred ceremony associated with the ‘daivasthanams’ (temples) and are held at the temple’s precincts.
Although a banned sport, cockfighting still carries on illegally in many parts of Karnataka. But, the scale of the event is fairly small compared to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where the bets run into lakhs. Dakshin Kannada and Udupi districts are those districts which still follow this age-old tradition.
This sport is male-dominated and you hardly see women participating in it, at least not directly. The roosters are supposed to symbolize bravery and resistance.
Mandas Shetty, a part of the audience who come to watch the fights in Sagar said “A special breed of cocks/fowls which are known as gamecocks is bred and trained for fighting purposes. Blades are tied to the roosters’ spurs. Mostly farmers engage in this activity before and after harvesting paddy crops.”The fights usually held after festivals like Sankranti and Diwali and is organized a few times a year in the vicinity of temples around Mangalore and Udupi.
On the other side of the world, cockfights are happening legally including in American states Like Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma which are part of a billion-dollar-a-year industry.
“The sport is held secretively as it is banned by High Courts and the Supreme Court. The cost of roosters varies from `20,000-`25,000 while the betting may go up to a few lakhs,” said an activist, Ravi.
According to PETA India, the cockfighting community rear the roosters and trains them in such a way that these birds become killers.
In the conclusion, this sport which has been there more than 2000-old-year tradition. A cockfight is a blood sport between two fighter cocks depending on the circumstances; otherwise they usually fight until one is dead. This sport is mainly man oriented and you can hardly see women participating in it at least not directly. The cocks are seen as a symbol of bravery and resistance in the face of unconquerable odds.
While cockpits are violent and loud, and at times, bloody places, fighting between human male competitors or gamblers is taboo. People love to see it and, in the end, it’s their choice whether they want to watch bloody sport or stand against it.
