Mandya: It will be a unique contest for food-lovers to keep their taste buds tingling. A traditional District-level Ragi Mudde, Naati Koli Saaru (chicken curry) eating contest will be held on Sunday (July 1) at Mangala Village near Mandya. What’s more, participants of the competition will even get a chance to act in a cinema.

The contest has been organised at Sri Maramma Temple, Mangala village jointly by Janata Talkies, Namma Haiklu Team, Neladani Balaga and Swamy Veeranjaneya Seva Samithi. The competition will begin at 1 pm and before the competition, 500 Ragi Mudde and chicken curry  will be kept ready.

Organisers are spending over Rs. 1 lakh for the grand event and the expense may be more if the number of competitors increase. More than 50 youths will be engaged in Mudde and curry preparation and in one hour, the youths can make 250 Ragi Muddes. Over one quintal of Ragi flour will be used for the competition.

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, M.C. Lankesh Mangala, President of Neladani Balaga, Mangala Village said that the main intention of the competition was to encourage rural sports. “Ragi Mudde and Nati Koli Saaru is a staple diet and it is famous among top politicians too. We had organised a similar competition at Hobli level four years back and there were more than 100 competitors. This time as it is a district-level competition, we are expecting over 250 competitors,” he said.

“We want the event to create awareness on the rural sports that are on the verge of extinct. Registration for the event will begin at 12 noon and we will have 500 Muddes, each weighing 500 grams, ready. Depending on the crowd, we will prepare Muddes on-the-spot and serve hot. If boiling water is ready, Muddes can be made within minutes,” he said.

There will be an entry fee of Rs. 100 and the participants will have just 15 minutes to eat (swallow) maximum number of Muddes. An average person can consume 2 muddes and the number can go up to 6 muddes depending on the competitor’s appetite.

The competition is not open for those who have consumed alcohol and there will be stringent checking while registration. Competitors will be declared ineligible for the prizes if they vomit after eating.

While the winner will get cash prize of Rs. 5,000, second place winner will get Rs. 3,000 and the third place holder will get Rs. 2,000. There will be two consolation prizes of Rs. 1,000 each. All the winners will get trophies apart from the cash prizes.

Select participants will also get a chance to act in “Aanebala”  Kannada movie that is being produced by Janata Talkies. Even people who come to witness the competition can have Mudde and Koli Saaru after the competition, Lankesh added.