Kori Katta: Cockfighting in Tulunadu

Kori Katta is a different case from most of the coast’s festivals. It is real, it has a name in both Tulu and Kannada, and it is against the law.

We have written this page short, and said what we could not find. Nearly everything available is local news, and most of it is about police raids.

What it is

Mangalore Today describes it plainly. Two owners place their roosters in a ring, the cockpit, and the birds fight until one of them dies or is badly hurt. A sickle-shaped knife is tied to the legs of each bird.¹

The roosters are mostly local breeds, though some are bought from Tamil Nadu. They are named by the colour of their feathers, with names such as mypa, karbolle, kemaira, bolle and uriye. According to one owner quoted in the same report, the birds are born fighters and need no special training, but in the week before a big contest they are allowed to fight each other to test their strength.¹

Betting and the almanac

Betting is part of it. In 2015 Mangalore Today reported that a rooster could cost up to Rs 25,000 and that bets could cross Rs 1 lakh. Gamblers, it said, follow a kukutta panchanga, an almanac that says which colour of rooster suits which day.¹

The Hans India reported in 2024 that breeding fighting cocks has become a big business in northern Kerala, Belthangady, Sullia, Puttur and the rural parts of Mangaluru taluk, and that the amounts bet sometimes run to several lakhs when the cock comes from a wealthy owner’s stable. It adds that the owner of the winning cock had the privilege of taking the beaten cock home, cooking it and eating it with friends and family.²

When and where

Mangalore Today says that cockfights are often held after temple festivals, or on the day after a bhuta kola, and that they are popular in Mangaluru city as well as in the villages.¹ That is one newspaper’s account. We found no source that ties Kori Katta to a fixed festival date, as Bisu Parba or Kambala is, and none that says which communities take part.

It is illegal

The Deccan Herald reported in December 2025 that a case over a cockfight was registered under Sections 3 and 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, along with sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.³

In January 2024 the Dakshina Kannada police said that organisers need no longer come to the police station with requests for permission. Anyone holding such an event would be dealt with under the law. According to police sources, the Hans India reported, it amounted to “gambling in public places in the garb of folk tradition”, and in recent times, even a religious colour had been given to it. Animal-rights campaigners, it says, oppose it as cruelty to animals.²

The contrast with Kambala is sharp. Kambala was banned too, but Karnataka passed new laws for it, and in 2023 the Supreme Court upheld them. For cockfighting we found no law of this kind.

Raids

The reports are mostly of raids. In July 2015, Mangalore Today wrote that cockfight dens in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi continued despite constant raids, calling it a cat-and-mouse chase between police and gamblers. After a raid at Santoorkopla, the Padubidri police auctioned 36 seized roosters, with a minimum of Rs 400 each fixed by the court.¹

In December 2025 the Vittal police raided a field at Kepu in Bantwal taluk, where a fight was going into its second day. They detained 20 people and seized 20 roosters and blades, and booked 27 people in all. The police alleged that seven of them had encouraged the fights.³

What we could not find

We found no scholarly study of Kori Katta, and nothing on how old it is. Some people describe it as a ritual part of a village fair, and we have not opened that account, so we have not repeated it. Nor have we checked later reports.

Related

• Kambala: The Coast’s Buffalo-Racing Festival, the other animal contest of the coast, and the one that won legal protection
• Bhuta Kola: When the Spirits Come to the Village, the night ritual after which, one report says, cockfights are held

Sources & further reading

The books and articles behind the numbered notes on this page.

1. “Undeterred, cockfights still on in coastal Karnataka”, Mangalore Today (23 July 2015): the format, the breeds, the almanac, the prices, the settings and the Padubidri auction.
2. “Koli Anka-Cock fight: No police permission anymore!”, The Hans India (30 January 2024): the police position, the breeding business and the custom of cooking the beaten cock.
3. “Illegal cockfight case: 27, including former MLA, BJP leader, booked”, Deccan Herald (21 December 2025): the Kepu raid and the sections of law.

All three are news reports. We have not found a scholarly or heritage source.