‘Rekla’ race to test the agility of bullocks

Temple festivals not only unite all communities together under a common platform and provide a space for youth to display their talents and courage but also ensure survival of traditional sports.

Double bullock cart race, locally known as ‘rekla’ race, was one such traditional and famous sports held as a part of the annual Chithirai festival of Sri Muthalamman Temple at Thummalapatti near Batlagundu near here. The entire village wore a festive look on Friday and people from Thumallapatti and nearby areas thronged it to witness the festival since morning.

The main road connecting Thummalapatti, Kanavaipatti Sri Lankan refugee camp and Pudhupatti Kamarajapuram was converted into a race track. Traffic was closed on this road.

Spectators converged on both sides of the road to witness the event.

Under big bull category, bullocks owned by Madhu Bala of Cumbum clinched the first prize.

Vairam of Goodalur bagged the second prize. In the mid-size bull segment Sellayi Amman of Vadipatti emerged winner and Sridhar of Goodalur settled with second prize.

In the small size category, known as ‘Karichan Kunju’ segment in the local parlance, bullocks owned by Arivu of Uthukuli emerged winner and bulls of Arunkumar of Chinnamanur got the second prize.

Cash award of Rs.10,000 Rs.7,000 and Rs.6,000 were given to top three winners. Majority of prizes were bagged by bulls from Theni district.

Race organizer Pon. Kuppusamy said that 138 bullock carts from Dindigul, Theni, Madurai, Cumbum, Theni, Chinnamanur, KK Patty, Alanganallur, Iyyampalayam, Natham, Singampunari, Melur, Sholavandhan, Tiruchi and Manaparai participated in the race.

This race will test the agility of bulls and riding tactics of young riders, he added.

Sufficient force was deployed at the village to regulate the crowd.

The bullocks were divided into three categories – big bullocks, mid size bullocks and small size bullocks – on the basis of their size, height and capability to take part in the race. Separate races were conducted for each category.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by K. Raju / Dindigul – May 03rd, 2014