Mandya: It was a question of who had the biggest appetite during the ‘Ragi Mudde – Naati Koli saaru’ (ragi balls – country chicken curry) eating competition at Mangala village near Mandya on Sunday. Ultimately, fifty-four-year-old Meese Eregowda emerged victorious after he gulped down seven ragi balls (three-and-a-half kg in total) in 15 minutes flat.
The District-level contest was organised on Sunday (July 1) at Sri Maramma Temple, Mangala village, by Janata Talkies, Namma Haiklu Team, Neladani Balaga and Swamy Veeranjaneya Seva Samithi.
Eregowda from Arakere village of Srirangapatna won a trophy along with Rs. 5,000 prize money at the competition and he has won this competition for ninth time. He is a mudde-eating veteran and participates in such competitions.
While Eregowda was declared winner, Suresh, who ate 2.75 kg (5.75 balls) was declared runner up and got Rs. 3,000. Ramamurthy ate 2.5 kg and got Rs. 2,000 as prize. Nandish, Karasawadi Shankaregowda, H.D. Yogesh, Nagesh each ate five ragi balls (but went beyond the time limit of 15 minutes) and got Rs. 1,000 each.
Meese Eregowda (extreme left), who emerged victorious after he gulped down seven ragi balls at the Mudde-Naati Koli Saaru eating competition held at Mangala village near Mandya on Sunday, is seen along with other winners Suresh and Ramamurthy.
Sixty-five people participated in this competition where the lone woman competitor Jayamma of Siddakalehalla ate two ragi balls.
The performance of Eregowda stunned other participants as he rolled dollops of Mudde in his hands, dipped them into the Koli saaru and gulped them down one after the other.
Contenders from Bengaluru rural, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, T. Narasipura, H.D. Kote, Tarikere, Hassan, Ramanagaram and Channapattana took part in the event. Women in large numbers went up to the terrace of buildings around the venue to watch the competition.
Jayamma, the lone woman contender.
The competition was organised to encourage rural sports and the Neladani Balaga had organised such competitions at Hobli-level in the past.
As part of the competition, a few scenes of a Kannada movie ‘Aane Bala’ that is being produced by Janata Talkies was shot at the venue. Select participants will also get a chance to act in the movie.
Hundreds of villagers from surrounding areas had come to view this unique competition. They were, however, disappointed as organisers served just ‘rice bath’ to them while Ragi Mudde and country chicken curry was given only to the participants.
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