Kambala to be part of Mysuru Dasara from this year: DKS

Mangaluru: Deputy chief minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar said that kambala will be introduced during the upcoming Dasara Sports Meet in Mysuru. He was speaking at the Muloor-Addoor Gurupura Kambala held under the leadership of KPCC general secretary Inayath Ali on Saturday.
"The govt has decided to extend continuous support to kambala. I already discussed with chief minister Siddaramaiah and the district minister of Mysuru. Being the vice-president of the Dasara Committee, I have been participating in meetings. The govt will decide to include kambala in Dasara sports from next year, and it will be part of the festival every year. We also witness Yakshagana, tiger dance, and other cultural programmes during the Mysuru Dasara procession. We will also identify about three acres of land to organise kambala in Mysuru during Dasara, and make arrangements to accommodate around 25,000 spectators. I also discussed the matter with District Kambala Samiti president Devi Prasad Shetty to make all necessary preparations in this regard," Shivakumar said.
Further, he said that plans are afoot to convene a meeting along with the tourism minister in Mangaluru involving representatives from the three coastal districts. The focus of the meeting will be to empower educated youth and strengthen the district economically, through the promotion of tourism and pilgrimage sectors. A policy in this regard will be prepared, and a discussion in this regard was already held in the cabinet meeting, he added.
"The undivided Dakshina Kannada has the largest number of medical and engineering colleges. I mentioned in the recently concluded assembly session that the coastal districts have the strength with a seaport, airport, and more than 300km of seashore. However, the brain drain is a major issue, with highly skilled and educated individuals migrating to foreign countries seeking jobs. I suggested that measures should be taken to ensure that such brain drain is prevented," he said.
The strength of the undivided Dakshina Kannada region lies in its history. Such a vibrant history of religious, cultural, educational, and social richness cannot be seen in any of the districts across the nation. It is the duty of everyone to protect this cultural heritage of the region, he added.