File photo of Maramadi held at Anandappally near Adoor in Pathanamthitta in 2012.
| Photo Credit: LEJU KAMAL
For decades, the thunder of hooves, the spray of muddy water and the roar of thousands were an integral part of Independence Day at Anandappally, a village near Adoor in Pathanamthitta. Pairs of bulls, yoked to wooden planks, would hurtle down a 100-metre slushy track, with a rider clinging to the plank as runners steered the animals through the waterlogged field.That spectacle, known as Maramadi, or bull surfing, will once again be missing from the Palassery polders here this year.Held immediately after the harvest season, the traditional contest was as much a celebration of farming as a sporting spectacle, which brought farmers, cattle and mud together in a display of grit, skill and rural tradition. But despite repeated efforts by local organisers to revive it, the iconic event will now remain off the calendar for the 14th consecutive year.Immediate hurdleAccording to the Anandappally Karshaka Samithi (AKS), which organises the event, the immediate hurdle is a legal one. Towards the fag end of the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s tenure, the Assembly passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Kerala Amendment) Bill, seeking to provide legal protection to traditional cattle races. The amendment followed the examples of Tamil Nadu, which legalised Jallikattu in 2017, and Karnataka, which provided a similar exemption for Kambala in 2018.However, the subsequent procedures have apparently not been completed, leaving the organisers uncertain about whether the Bill has received the President’s assent.“All our efforts to ascertain the status of this legislation have gone in vain. We have once again approached Adoor MLA C.V. Santhakumar seeking clarity. In any case, the event is not going to be held this year either,” said Varghese Daniel, president of the AKS.
