Belapu Deviprasad Shetty, president of Karnataka State Kambala Association, at a press conference in Mangaluru on Friday.
| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
The Karnataka State Kambala Association, recognised by the Sports Authority of Karnataka, has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requesting that ₹5 crore be allocated in the 2026-27 Budget to 25 Kambala organisers in the coastal belt.
The association, based in Udupi, requested that the grant be released in the amount of ₹2.5 crore each through the Department of Tourism and the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports.
Releasing the letter at a press conference here on Friday, Belapu Deviprasad Shetty, president of the association, said that at least ₹40 lakh is required to hold a Kambala.
The government has released ₹50 lakh distributed as ₹5 lakh each to 10 Kambalas for the 2025-26 season. The association urges the Chief Minister to release another ₹50 lakh to the remaining 10 more Kambala organisers, as ₹5 lakh each, he said.
Mr. Shetty said that the association, which recently came under the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, has adopted a bye-law on conducting Kambalas. Accordingly, a Kambala will have to be completed in 24 hours.
He said of the 25 Kambalas scheduled in the current (2025-26) season, three Kambalas – at Ermal and Badagubettu near Manipal in Udupi district and at Harekala near Mangaluru – will be held for the first time. Since the matter pertaining to resuming Kambala at Pilikula is before the Karnataka High Court, clarity on holding Pilikula Kambala will emerge only after the court decides the matter.
As of now, there is no plan to hold Kambalas in Bengaluru and Shivamogga. But a Kambala in Mysuru may be organised after April.
Mr. Shetty said that there are about 300 pairs of buffaloes which take part in Kambalas in the coastal belt.
The secretary of the association Vijaya Kumar Kanginamane and others were present.
Published – November 21, 2025 07:23 pm IST
