I had earlier posted a time table of Kambala a traditional water buffalo race in muddy waters, held from December till March. It is the native sport of Tulu Nadu region of South India.
Kambala is traditionally a simple sport. The ‘Kambala track’ used for muddy field filled with slush. The contest generally takes place between two pairs of buffaloes, controlled by a racer.
Kambala today has become an organized, professional sports. People place massive amounts of bets on the winning buffaloes and one can witness more than 20,000 spectators in a well organized Kambala, egging and cheering the buffaloes to complete the race. As of now, more than 45 races are held annually in Coastal Karnataka. Nearly 18 kambalas are held under the banner of Kambala Samithi and the rest are held under the auspices of temples, political patronage and aristocratic Bunt households. Kambala still remains a hugely popular sport in Coastal Karnataka.
The photos here were taken at my home town Moodabidri which is held in a Kambala grounds of Kadlakere Nisargadhama. This large rain water fed lake was to witness over 180 pairs of Water Buffaloes. Despite the Bandh call given by the Government of Karnataka on that Saturday huge crowd had gathered to witness this folk sports. I was able to reach the venue only in the late evening and for 2 hours I took the pictures you see here. Most of the light was from the overhead halogen lamps which lit the whole Kambala fields. I used my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM on Canon EOS 5D mark II Camera supported by Benro C45T Carbon Fiber Monopod. My friend Mr. Parshwanath was on my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM fitted to Canon EOS 7D. So both could shoot simultaneously.
The races were held in Kene Halage, Hagga, ‘Adda Halage’, and Negilu categories. Kene Halage and Adda Halage are 2 forms of the race which has very few contestants participating and is a vanishing from most Kambala races.
nice pictures! pl give exif data of any representive picture ,just for my knowledge . Could you get suitable place in crowd to keep all gears safely? I want to see kambala once .Thanks for sharing
Dear Dr. Shrikanth,
Just click on each picture it will expand to larger size (1000 pixel) & show all the exif details including GPS coordinates. Each and every picture in my blog is tagged like that as I feel any learners of photography has a right to know the EXIF details.
Thanks for visiting my blog
Regards
Krishna Mohan
Excellent freeze of motion. But there is a lack of variety. I could understand that in 2 hours you couldn’t explore the area for different pics. It feels a little monotonous to see the images from the same angle with very little variations in the action. Just my opinion.
Regards
Prem Anandh P.
Dear Prem Anandh,
I perfectly agree with you. Over the years we have seen innumerable similar shots of kambala. Short duration I had did not allow me to explore much else. In fact after shooting many Kambala’s in the past it has lost its initial thrill in me. Probably that is evident in my photos too. I am still weak in portrait and street photography which I plan to explore this year.
Thanks for visiting my website. Please do visit again.
Regards
Krishna mohan
Yes I agree with your point. I went to Miyar two consecutive years. Last year spent the whole day but this year I couldn’t spend 3-4 hours. Heat was one more reason too 🙂
I have subscribed to your site in Google Reader. So will be visiting whenever you post something.
Keep Clicking
Prem Anandh P.
Fantastic series, Doc
good pics.. last sunday i went to puttur kambala.. good it was,ll share those pics soon
Great! I am eager to see the pictures.
Hi
thank you for the shot. I am the guy standing first from left in your “catching the action”shot. Very nice photos . Please visit this for my photos and full article on this Kambala and you are most welcome to critique and comment
http://dineshhegde.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/kambala-the-race-of-the-buffaloes/
thanks for the shot though
Dinesh Hegde
Lovely shots you have taken and also a nice writeup on various aspects of kambala. Keep up the good work.
Regards
Krishna Mohan