Enthusiasts all set to conduct Rekla race on January 16 in Tirupur district

Every year on Maatu Pongal day, close to 2,000 pairs of native oxen tied to bullock carts would be taken for a ride from villages in and around Udumalpet, Pollachi, Coimbatore to Maala Koil at Pethappampatti near Udumalpet in Tirupur district, as it is considered good for the health of bulls that helped farmers get a rich harvest. It is from here that the annual Rekla races will begin. This year, the organisers are conducting the sport at the Pethappampatti junction. 

Noting that more than 80 per cent of the bulls have been sold over the last two years, organisers expressed hope that at least 500 hundred pairs of bulls would take part in the race this year. On Sunday night, a few hundred bullock carts aleady reached Maala Koil. “We were patiently waiting for more than two years for the court to lift the ban on jallikattu and Rekla race, but in vain,” said the organiser. 

Rekla race is predominantly conducted in two categories based on the age. For bulls with two to six teeth (junior category — two to four years old), there will be a 200 metre race and bulls with six teeth and above will participate in the 300 metre race.

“This year, the participation will be very poor in the junior category as breeding was not active for the last two years. It will take more than one-and-a-half years to prepare the young bull to participate in the race. This is possible only if the ban on jallikattu and Rekla is lifted by the Supreme Court,” president of Tamil Nadu Rekla Club R S Thirumugam said.

Multipronged attack drives majestic Kangayam bulls to extinction

The tall, majestic, muscular and strong Kangayam bulls will soon be a thing of the past, preserved only on old Indian coins, if the ban on sports involving them such as jallikattu and Rekla races is going to continue. The prevailing acute drought-like situation has indeed expedited their extinction.

Kangayam breed is predominantly reared in towns such as Kangayam, Moolanur, Dharapuram, Udumalpet and Karur. In Coimbatore and Tirupur districts alone, more than 200 families were involved in breeding of the native bulls. However, modernisation of agriculture and import of hybrid cows for high milk yield resulted in drop in the native breed. And the ban on Rekla race has made survival difficult for Kangayam bulls. M Sabari Prakash (27), a software professional who is also a Kangayam bull breeder from Pollachi, says his family has been participating in Rekla Race for generations. “My father had over 25 Kangayam bulls and cows about a decade ago. We had eight pairs of bulls that ploughed, drew water from wells and pulled carts. The best among them participated in Rekla races,” he says. “The number of bulls reduced with the mechanisation of farming. With the ban on the sport, we had to reduce the number of bulls. Last October, we sold the last pair of bulls too. Now, we have eight Kangayam cows and will breed if the ban on the sport is lifted,” he says. 

Others like Subramani of Thippampatty and Sivasamy of Kangayam, who were breeding the native breed bull only for Rekla races, have now switched to breeding hybrid breeds. They claim that they don’t have required land and other resources to rear the native breeds. 

“There is no demand for the native bulls now,” they lament. With continuance of the ban, the price of bull calves has drastically reduced. Breeders claim that calves are usually sold when they are 18-month-old when they start looking active and healthy. 

During the racing season, a calf was sold for Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. It a calf wins a race, its price escalates to Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. Now, a female calf fetches Rs 30,000 while a male calf is sold for just Rs 12,000. Some breeders sell the male calves for slaughter at a younger age for a mere Rs 2,000 as they consider it a liability due to ban on Rekla race. The worsening of drought situation is feared to be driving Kangayam bulls to extinction, provided a favourable verdict comes from the Supreme Court.