Andhra man wins Rs 1.5 crore in just a few minutes of cockfight

A man from Rajahmundry reportedly walked away with Rs 1.53 crore after a high-stakes cockfight during Sankranti celebrations at Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district. The bout, held in front of thousands of spectators, has triggered widespread chatter on social media and is being described as the biggest betting win ever seen in a Sankranti cockfight in the Telugu states, a TOI report stated.

The amount marks a sharp jump from last year’s record of Rs 1 crore, which was also reported from Tadepalligudem. This year’s betting rose by Rs 53 lakh, a little over a 50 per cent increase from the previous high.

Short fight, massive stakes

The fight lasted only a few minutes but drew massive bets. It was held at Paiboyina Venkata Ramaiah’s ring in Tadepalligudem. The contest was between a ‘Sethuva’ breed rooster owned by Gudivada Prabhakar and a ‘Dega’ breed belonging to K Ramesh Raju.


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Ramesh Raju’s team clinched the win, and the reported bounty touched Rs 1.53 crore, making it the costliest cockfight witnessed in the Godavari districts so far.

Biggest attraction of Sankranti festivities

The bout became the centre of attention during the three-day harvest festival in the region. Locals described it as the most expensive fight of the season, with punters placing bets without limits.

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Despite clear orders banning cockfights in the state, the practice continued during Sankranti. Efforts by local authorities to stop such events in the Godavari districts, known for heavy betting, reportedly failed.

Police raise doubts over betting figures

West Godavari SP Adnan Nayeem Asmi said police will check the cockfight bout. Expressing doubts over the huge amount reportedly involved, he said organisers might be trying to draw more crowds by hiking the betting amount intentionally.

A tradition that changed with time

Cockfights are considered a long-standing tradition during the harvest festival in the delta regions of the Godavari and Krishna rivers. The practice dates back a few centuries and gained popularity after the stabilisation of the river deltas in the latter half of the 19th century, following the construction of anicut across the two rivers in coastal Andhra.

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Historians note that cockfights began as a sportive event. Over time, as agricultural prosperity increased and more money flowed into the region, the practice slowly turned into a betting spectacle, with sharp knives tied to the legs of the fighting roosters. Today, hundreds of crores of rupees are said to change hands during cockfights across the two delta regions during Sankranti.

(Source: TOI)