August 15, when all the Indians celebrate Independence of our country from the British rule, the villagers of Anandhapally in Pathanamthitta, are busy arranging and celebrating Maramadi Bull Surfing. Even Though Kerala conducts a lot of bull races, Maramadi bull race is the most popular among them, as it forms a vital part of our post-harvest festival that comes around August. This peculiar bull race has a history of about 200 years and is different from Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and Bullfighting in Spain.
This traditional bull racing is a reminder of our ancient agricultural techniques and methods that widely included bulls for ploughing. This is conducted every year for prosperous crop results, good harvest and abundant rainfall in the forthcoming agricultural season. For the bull surfing festival, a barren paddy field is freshly ploughed in the size of a football field, with ankle-length of muddy water.
Almost 30 teams participate in this bull surfing festival. One team consists of a pair of bulls tied to a yoke on their backs that is connected to a wooden slide, and three jockeys controlling this pair of bulls. Two of the three men run on either side of the bulls with ropes for steering them to the finishing line. The third man is called as the surfer who balances himself on the wooden plank in between the bulls and surfs along. The bulls are specially fed and trained for these competitions.
In fact, this bull surfing is highly risky, yet it is thrilling and competitive. The audience enjoys the race with great excitement and spirit. With enough cheering and applauding the barren paddy field gets transformed itself into an outdoor stadium of International games. Visit Anandapally during the month of August to witness this gripping and mind-blowing Bull Surfing.