Curtains on Bengaluru’s first Kambala as coastal sport draws lakhs of people

Lakhs of people gathered at Palace Grounds on Sunday for the second and final day of Kambala, the slush track buffalo race organised by the Kambala Committee of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasaragod (Kerala) districts and the Bengaluru Kambala Committee

Lakhs of people gathered at Palace Grounds on Sunday for the second and final day of Kambala, the slush track buffalo race organised by the Kambala Committee of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasaragod (Kerala) districts and the Bengaluru Kambala Committee (BKC).

The audiences included scores of political leaders and members of the film fraternity, such as Rakshith Shetty, Upendra, Pooja Hegde, and Sanjjana.

The pair of buffaloes used in the popular Kannada movie Kantaara won gold medals in one of the events. 

Although the public experienced some logistical issues on the first day, the second day was said to be smoother. One of the organisers claimed that the crowd on the second day was almost double that of the first day. The spectators said that this was not an issue as there were large screens broadcasting the events. 

For many in the audience, this was the first chance to experience this cultural phenomenon. “Even though I am from South Canara, I had never watched Kambala as I live in Bengaluru. It made me very happy to see the cultural event so close to home in the city. I had read so much about it previously and it was an excellent experience to watch it,” said Suma Venkatesh, a resident of Sanjaynagar.

She added that the food stalls at the event served authentic and tasty food while the exhibition was also informative. 

While some visitors complained of traffic snarls on Ballari Road, the Bengaluru Traffic Police said that there were no traffic jams on Sunday owing to the event.