In Udupi, 'Yamraj' And 'Chitragupt' Perform Long Jumps On Potholes To Spread Awareness

In a bid to draw attention to pothole menace during monsoons, a group of social activists in Karnataka’s Udupi went all creative. The video going viral shows individuals dressed as Yamraj and Chitragupt taking part in a long jump competition with a few others dressed as dead people. The incident took place on the Adi Udupi-Malpe road, which connects Udupi to the famous Malpe beach. Shared on X, the 45-second video has left social media users thinking about the seriousness of the situation.

As the video plays, Yamraj, said to be the God of Death in Hindu mythology, is conducting the long jumps, while Chitragupt assists him. Meanwhile, those dressed as ghosts and dead people could be seen jumping over the potholes on the road.

Both Yamraj and Chitragupt measure their jumps with tapes. The staged act caught a lot of attention from onlookers who gathered around to watch them perform. Notably, the intention was mainly to raise alarm about the difficulties and risks that these potholes pose to daily commuters. Many social media users took to the comment section and reacted to the video.

Karnataka residents commented, asking authorities to take care of the road conditions. A user wrote, “At least now they can see the situation.”

Another added, “One way nuisance in Bengaluru will soon mean: this way or that way of the puddle…!!”

“The current situation of roads in all over Karnataka, next year we are going to see an epic year if this continues,” a comment read.

One wrote, “Power of voting for freebies…more such initiatives has to be done to make the government realise.”

A user shared the video and noted, “#Sarcasm at its best by people of #Udupi. Yamraj and yamduts in action.”

There are many such examples where people adopted unique approaches to highlight poor road conditions. Earlier this year, a video from Bengaluru’s Jayanagar went viral, where locals turned to an unusual method to show their dissatisfaction. They conducted a ‘pothole puja’ in the middle of the road in their neighbourhood.

Termed as ‘Gundi Pujan,’ the protest was aimed to grab the attention of the civic authorities to the city’s failing infrastructure amid rains.