Punjabi style - showing off bulls in Pakistani style (6 photos)

3 June 2025

Bull racing is not only held in Pakistan, but in Punjab this event has its own cool style.





If the clothes are dark, then the turban should be light

The thing is that in Indonesia, bull racing is held in the mud, usually the drivers are half-naked and slide through the mud. This is how they show how they can control the bulls in flooded fields from the same rice. But Punjab is the opposite - it is for white clothes for the drivers, and also beautifully decorated "boards" for sliding in the harness.



The bulls are powerful, but the Indians sometimes paint them

They choose a dry, sun-baked field in the countryside. Partly because it is much drier and easier to find a dry day and a clean field. The bulls are loaded into a thick wooden shaft, and the driver stands on a board decorated with patterns. He controls the bulls and stays upright only with the help of a rope with knots (so as not to scrape his hand if his hand starts to slip).





Wooden platforms are also decorated in their own way by everyone

Hundreds of spectators gather around to watch the bull run, and it is considered especially chic to ride through a cloud of dust raised by the bulls and keep your clothes and turban clean. Because what? Because if you were the first one to go, you didn't swallow any dust, and the last ones collected dust from all the bulls.

Tradition evolves in its own way



And this is for comparison the races in Bali, the most watery of the competing

Bull racing is held in several places in Asia. But it's funny that in Indonesia it extols dirt and slush, and in Pakistan it's clouds of dust and cleanliness. In Indonesia you're cool if you're all dirty, and in Pakistan, if you managed to stay clean in such a difficult race.



The main thing is that a hundred bulls don't run away... It would be fun

Especially if you are a bad jockey, the bull will throw you off and drag you to the end of the track. Well, this is a chance for farmers to show off their bulls. They raise them all year round, and the race is a chance to show off the power of their animal in action. People are willing to pay high prices for a winning bull. And the owner of the winning bulls becomes famous among livestock breeders.



And this is a race in Indonesia, its own unique flavor

Usually up to 100 bulls take part in one race, so the competition there is serious. Even fifth place is considered honorable, because it means leaving behind as many as 95 bulls!

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