The Sankranti celebrations are back: Hundreds of crores of rupees are changing hands over cockfights in coastal Andhra districts like Krishna, NTR, Konaseema, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Guntur, Bapatla, and both the Godavari districts.
The Sankranti festivities, which began on Saturday with Bhogi, will continue till Monday — the day of Kanuma. It reached a feverish pitch on Sunday, Sankranti day.
UPI payments through QR codes, VIP entry tickets as high as ₹60,000 each, cash-counting machines, and spot-financing were the highlights of this year’s Sankranti cockfight and gambling arenas.
It is learnt that the initial betting began for ₹25 lakh near the Degapuram betting ground of Bhimavaram in the West Godavari district.
An electronic ID tag was introduced to maintain privacy.
Admission into the area required a ₹3,000 entry fee and complete tag tying.
In Bhimavaram, which is known as the hub of cockfights in coastal Andhra Pradesh, lodges were full, with no rooms available for the next two days.
Local politicians — from corporators to MLAs — organise these camps under huge pandals and LED screens.
Ampapuram camp a hotspot this season
In the Ampapuram village of the Bapulapadu Mandal under the Gannavaram constituency, a rooster fighting and casino setup across around 16 acres of land adjacent to the Vijayawada-Eluru National Highway emerged as the hotspot of this season’s Sankranti festivities.
The organisers offered two kinds of VIP passes for enthusiasts. The first-grade pass was priced ₹60,000. The next level VIP pass cost ₹40,000.
Those who had VIP passes are entitled to food and alcohol, along with other luxury amenities, within the camp from 14 to 16 January.
Interestingly, anyone going inside this camp would have to hand over their phones at the counters at the entrance.
And for security, at least 200 specially trained bouncers from Hyderabad have been brought in.
Warrior meat
The meat of roosters that died in the fight witnessed huge demand from chicken and gourmet lovers. At one of the cock fights in Krishna district, the meat — called Kosa meat — fetched as high as ₹8,000 per kg.
As per the rules of cockfights, the rooster that dies fighting becomes the property of the winning rooster’s owner. That individual then auctions it in the open.
The dead rooster’s feathers are usually removed immediately after the fight, and its meat is put on auction.
In the auction, chicken enthusiasts bid from a minimum of ₹5,000 to ₹8,000.
The demand for Kosa meat is very high as these special Sankranti fighter cocks are nurtured carefully, fed a special diet throughout the year to gain immunity and power, and exercised to remain fighting fit.
In some parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, there is a custom of new sons-in-law being fed Kosa meat when they visit their wife’s home for Sankranti.
Related: Peruvian rooster a favourite at Andhra cockfights this year
Roosters undergo intense training
The roosters are trained and bred for almost a year prior to the Sankranti festivities.
The breeders feed the birds a nutritious balanced diet of millets, cereals, dry fruits, and minced mutton so that they can withstand attacks and develop agility and robustness.
The roosters are also given stamina training: They are taken swimming at least twice a day — in the morning and evening. They are also trained in jumps.
Every year, it is estimated that at least 2 lakh fighting roosters entertain spectators during the three-day festival.
Unofficial estimates suggest that at least ₹1,000 crore changes hands over the three days, with the majority of the money spent in and around Bhimavaram in the West Godavari district and Kaikaluru in the Krishna district.
Both are prosperous and wealthy areas of the Krishna and Godavari river basins.
The fights — between razor-wielding roosters with alert eyes and gleaming tails — often do not last long. In a short period of time, enthusiasts place bets on each of the roosters competing.
Jagan celebrates Sankranti with fervour
Meanwhile, Sankranti was celebrated with fervour across Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife YS Bharati Reddy celebrated Sankranti at the camp office on Saturday amidst a rural ambience and with festive spirit.
Reflecting the occasion, the camp office premises was spruced up with flowered arches and traditional Muggulu.
The chief minister and his wife initiated the festivities by breaking a customary coconut at the Lord Ganesha temple. Priests blessed them by reciting Vedic hymns and presenting them with new clothes.
The couple, in traditional attire, walked through the premises wishing the guests individually, accepting their wishes in return. They then lit the bonfire — Bhogi Manta.
They also performed the traditional cow worship at the Goshala by garlanding a bovine.
On the occasion, they offered Biksha to Hari dasu and the Sankranti Gangireddu.
They also inspected the replicas of the Village Secretariat, Government School, Village Clinic, and Rythu Bharosa Kendram erected on the premises.
They also witnessed a dance drama of Srinivasa Kalyanam and listened to popular numbers like “Gobbi Yello…Gobbi Yello“, rendered by folk singer Kanakavva and “Komma Uyyala” by RRR-fame singers Prakruti Reddy and Harinka Narayan.
Naidu burns GO copies
Extending Sankranti greetings to all the Telugus in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, besides those spread across the globe, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday burnt a copy of Government Order (GO) No 1 in the traditional bonfire of Bhogi at Naravaripalle of the Chittoor district — his native place.
This was in protest against the GO, which banned the holding of roadshows and public meetings on roads in the state.
Naidu later told a gathering: “The lives of Telugus should be viewed before and after the emergence of the TDP. Though it was the great Late Potti Sriramulu who achieved the Telugu state, it was the Late NT Rama Rao who brought respect to them.”
Maintaining that he suggested to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 preparatory meeting that a vision document be prepared for 2047, Naidu recalled how the National Highway project was launched with his initiative.
He expressed deep concern that the roads in the state were in terrible condition, and said that though he suffered some pain after moving on these roads, he would continue his journey for the sake of the people.
He also claimed: “False cases are being filed against me, and the government is not providing security even to my meetings.”
