Banana, idli eating competitions as part of Shivamogga Dasara celebrations

Men and women took part with gusto in the eating competitions held as part of the Ahara Dasara events in Shivamogga on Saturday.

Participants had two minutes to eat as many idlis or bananas as they could, and the one who finished the most won the prize. 

The contests are held every year to involve the public in the Shivamogga Dasara celebrations. This time, a banana-eating contest was organised for women personnel of the Shivamogga Traffic Police. Used to keeping the city’s traffic in order, they showed they could also give each other stiff competition, and did so in good sporting spirit.

Divya T.D. won the first prize by eating seven and a half bananas, edging out Radha, a colleague, who gave up after seven. Salma was third with five bananas. Male police personnel competed in an idli-eating contest. Praveen Patil won by polishing off 12 idlis, followed by Ramesh with 10 and Santhosh with nine.

Similar contests were held for the public. Among men, Mithun took the first prize with a little over 11 idlis, Manikanth was second with 11, and Praveen third with 10. In the women’s banana-eating contest, Dhanalakshmi won first prize by having 13 bananas, Geetha was second with nine, and Neela Kumari, who gave up after eight bananas, took third place.

A good number of spectators cheered the contestants on, urging them to clear their plates and win the medals.

The winners were given home appliances as prizes.