The countryside came to life with the conduct of ‘Pasuvula Panduga’, a traditional festival dedicated to bulls, in Chandragiri and Pakala mandals of Tirupati district on January 16 (Tuesday). The event marks Kanuma, the third day of the Sankranti festival.
Bhogi is meant to clear the junk off one’s house and cattle farm, while Sankranti or Pongal marks the post-harvest celebrations. Kanuma is dedicated to the livestock on the farm. Several farmers painted the horns of the bulls in vibrant colours and tied balloons to them.
Amid tight security and barricading, the bulls were made to run amock, while the enthusiastic young men vied to catch hold of the prize money tied to the horns of the animals. Unlike Tamil Nadu’s Jallikattu, ‘Pasuvula Panduga’ is a milder version, where the bulls are made to run amid the crowd and the participants are less prone to injuries.
Similar festivals were celebrated in the rural constituencies of Gangadhara Nellore and Nagari, bordering Tamil Nadu.
