Rupesh Acharya

Kathmandu, May 28

With the conclusion of pigeon flying tournament here on Monday, the pigeon keepers have expressed satisfaction that the job, being considered only as a hobby and labelled ‘unproductive’, is now holding some significance. Pigeons, always taken as the symbol of peace or message carriers, were released in the sky as ‘competitors.’ During the last three days in the Third Pigeon flying tournament, the pigeon exhibited their flying power. Nepal Pigeon Keepers’ Association restarted the traditional tournament in a modern way, which before 1950s, was taken as a means of entertainment.

In the tournament, a female pigeon of kasni breed (a local species), owned by Suresh Shrestha, got the title of “Best Pigeon of the Tournament”. The pigeon has spent 11.5 hours in the sky. Suresh secured first place since all of his five pigeons altogether flew for 20 hours and 43 minutes. Hira Kaj Tamrakar, 56-year-old contestant, secured second place. His ‘pigeon brigade’ remained in the sky for 12 hours and 42 minutes. Keshav Raj Shrestha, whose pigeons flew for 8 hours and 40 minutes, stood third in the competition.

Altogether 66 contestants, from various walks of life and under different age groups, took part in the tournament.

Suresh Shrestha, who stood first in the competition, said that that the pigeon keeping is not an easy job these days. Falcons and other birds dot his area because of dumping sites along the banks of Bagmati River, which makes the hobby all the more difficult.

Hirakagi, who stood second in the competition, is keeping pigeons since he was 13. The passion for pigeon keeping started after he received a couple of pigeons as a gift from his friend. Now he has a ‘brigade’ of 70 pigeons to look after. Despite ailing health, he wants to keep more pigeons. He said that he has to spend Rs 40 per day and the only source of income is his dairy booth at Bhimsensthan.

The tournament was conducted in a unique way. Each contestant released five to seven trained levelled pigeons from his home. Those pigeons were levelled and two organising committee members inspected the flight. The top three positions were declared after comparing the flying time.