Locking horns in the hills!

By Smita Magar

Posted on: 2008-01-17 01:55:27

“Next year, I'm going to buy a bigger and stronger bull to win the award," said Rudra Bahadur Paudyal of Budhasing-6, Nuwakot. He was one of the participants of the unique "bull-fight" tradition celebrated on the occasion of Maghe Sankranti in Nuwakot.
Despite losing the game on Tuesday afternoon Paudyal said, "This was my first participation at such an event. Therefore, I wasn't aware of all that was needed to win. But, next year I'm certainly going to be very careful and give my bull better nutrients, at least six months ahead of the tournament."
Ironically, Paudyal got injured by his own bull, just when he arrived for the registration. "I couldn't miss this chance; I was very excited to participate and wanted to show that my bull was no less a competitor," he shared.
Like Paudyal, every year when Maghe Sankranti arrives, the people at Nuwakot not only celebrate the day with traditional ghiu-chaku, but also make it a point to make the “bull-fight” a grand ceremony. This year was no exception either. Not only did the locals enjoy the event, some 2,000 neighboring villagers too witnessed the extravaganza.
"As people from places like Dhading, Kathmandu, Syangja and Chitwan too popped in, we experienced many more spectators than what we had last year," highlighted Toran Kumar Shahi, President of Maghe Sankranti Fiesta Management Committee (MFMC).
Along with those who seemed enthralled to witness the show, there were also a few who took it a malpractice in terms of animal rights.
"It is a guilty pleasure," told Rajan Shrestha, a youth who had come to watch the bull fight from Batar, neighboring village of Taruka, Nuwakot.
"Like anyone else I'm here to see how the event is conducted. However, though it has traditional values, I now realize that we human beings have become selfish to such large extent that we can go beyond limits for our pleasure and enjoyment," he added.
Similarly, Purushottam Adhikari, an active member of Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) had his own point of view: "I agree that it's one of the unique cultural practices. Nonetheless, it is also a heinous crime when it comes to animal rights. However, I don't mean that the tradition needs to be abolished; one can instead make sure that neither the bulls nor anyone else gets injured."
According to the villagers the "bull-fight" was incepted in the district some 200 years ago. "Participating in a bull fight has always been an honor, a platform to portray class and status," said Jham Bahadur Pradhan, one of the elder members of the district.
Till a few years ago the winners used to be felicitated with red tika and would be carried on shoulders and with a panche baja procession behind. However, this practice didn't last long as some people did not admire this act. Pradhan put in, "There's nothing wrong in organizing such events. After all, we need to preserve out culture."
Along with a winning trophy, the winner of the competition also gets a hundred rupee.

(Source: The Kathmandu Post)