Kulkunda cattle fair gets mired in controversy

MANGALORE: The tradition of Kulkunda cattle fair near Subrahmanya, held from more than 300 years, may be in jeopardy next year with Bajrang Dal planning to approach the court to stop the fair, accusing it of becoming a slaughter house supply chain instead of helping farmers.
Both Vishwa Hindu Parishat and Bajrang Dal have urged Dakshina Kannada district administration to ban the fair.The fair started on Thursday and is on till November 15, a far cry from the usual month-long affair.
The fair has its own religious significance. It’s said after Asura, king Tarakasura was killed by Lord Shiva, and cow dung was used to clean Mother Earth. The other significance is ‘Rathotsava’ at Kukke Subrahmanya only starts after the cattle lands at Kulkunda fair from Malnad.
Dal convener Sharan Pumpwell says that with farming on the wane, Kulkunda fair is being misused by people and cattle is being transported illegally to slaughter houses in Kerala.
Dal members on Thursday created ruckus at the fair. They finally stopped after the tahsildar and police officials agreed that the sold cattle will be transported according to norms.
A committee formed by Subrahmanya Gram Panchayat is conducting the fair this year. Former vice president of Subrahmanya Gram Panchayat, Balakrishna Maril, refutes the allegations, saying for four years they took precautions so that the cattle do not land in slaughter houses.
“We check the buyer’s credentials through RTC and ID proof so that only genuine farmers buy them,’’ he said. Venting his anger over Dal, he questions what right do they have to interfere in a historic fair? “Why do we need their permission? Just because their government is in power now they cannot harass us without a reason,’’ he said, asserting that there is no proof that cattle taken from here are slaughtered.
Panchayat Development Officer Yashwant says the finest breed of cattle like oxen and buffalo are brought from Hassan, Somwarpet, Madikeri.
“Of course, the agricultural lands are disappearing, so are the number of cattle brought to the fair,’’ he says, indicating that eight decades ago, 80,000 head of cattle used to be brought here. Now it is a little over a thousand.