With barely a day left for Bhogali Bihu or the Magh Bihu, the residents of Assam’s temple town Hajo, located barely 30 kms from state’s capital city Guwahati, have been gearing up for holding its annual Bulbul fight.
The showdown between the Bulbul birds is a tradition followed for over last 300 years at the Haigriba Madhab temple (a temple of lord Vishnu) located atop the Manikut Hillock in Hajo township. Thousands of people, cutting across religious lines, throng the temple on the last Day of the month of Puh according to Assamese calendar to witness this unique fight between hundreds of Bulbul birds.
The preparation for the Bulbul fight begins at least a month before the Magh Bihu. The preparation begins with people of Bharalitola and Sonaritola-two localities in Hajo, who participates in the fight with their birds-catching the birds from the nearby jungle. The owners of the birds then prepare a mixture of 108 ingredients called ‘Bhog’, which is fed to the Bulbuls to make them aggressive. The recipe of the ‘Bhog’ is a secret till today and outsiders were never allowed to know this secret.
“This year the fight will take place on Tuesday, which is the last day of the month of Puh. The will not be fed on Monday which will make them more aggressive and on Tuesday they would be set for the fight,” said Nripen Bhagawati, a local person and a writer.
“On the day of the fight, owners bring their birds and place them on a platform in front of a banana. The banana acts as bait for the hungry birds. They get agitated when the banana is removed and gets ready to fight,” he said adding that there are also cash prize and trophies for the winning birds.
“After the fight, the birds are set free once again,” he said adding that the owners of the birds take maximum care so that the birds are not hurt during the whole period-from the day of catching them till the day they are released again.
“last year there were 140 birds, who participated in the fight,” he said adding that the unique tradition of Bulbul fight draws huge number of crowds to the temple town every year including foreign tourists.
Although there is no written document as to when the tradition started in the temple, oral history indicates that the Bulbul fight first started during the early 17th century. legend has it that once an Asom king came to the temple and saw two bulbuls fighting. The king was very amused by the fight of the Bulbuls and he made it a tradition since then.