Bhopal: Thousands of people gathered on Sunday to witness the traditional buffalo fight that is one of the most important events during Govardhan Puja, observed the next day of the Diwali, every year in Bhopal.
Though such competition involving cattle is banned in the country under the Animal Protection Act, buffalo fight is organised in most of the rural areas in and around Bhopal, a tradition in vogue from the medieval period.
Two pairs of buffaloes participated in the competition at Halawkhera village this year.
Large quantity of 'energy' diet is provided to these buffaloes in the run-up for today's fight that include milk, nuts and even wine.
"Lot of preparation is required. We let our buffaloes grazing for hours daily. We feed them five litres of milk daily along with nuts, butter, ghee. We give them wine also before the competition," said Bheema Pahlwan, organiser of the event.
The buffalo, which starts to run away from the 'battleground' to escape from their respective competitors, are considered as defeated.
"The tradition of the buffalo fight has been carried out since the era of Nawabs. My father organises this on Diwali every year and also on many other festivals. It becomes very important on Diwali. Many tournaments were held earlier also and my buffalo came first several times. Even I have a trophy given by the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," said Pappu Yadav, owner of a participant buffalo.
As for the Govardhan Pooja, the villagers make mound from cow dung to represent the hillock Govardhan. The villagers also decorate their cattle and worship them on the occasion.
Lord Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhan with his little finger and saved the residents of Gokul near Mathura from a heavy rain.
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