Preparations are in full swing in Tamil Nadu for the traditional bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’. The Jallikattu event in Madurai will be held for three days, beginning on January 15.
First-day, Jallikattu event will be held on January 15 in Avaniyapuram, followed by January 16 in Palamedu and January 17 in Alanganallur, Madurai District Collector Sangeetha, M S Sangeetha informed.
The Bull training is underway in Avaniyapuram in Madurai for the Jallikattu event. Speaking to the media, Rajkumar, a bull owner, said, “We have had Jallikattu bulls for the past seven generations. Our bull will participate in all districts of Jallikattu. Our bull has won most of the competitions. We have been teaching walking and swimming for upcoming the Jallikattu event,” he said.
As part of the preparations for the awaited event, people painted their houses afresh to begin the centuries-old practice. Jallikattu is an age-old event celebrated mostly in the State of Tamil Nadu as part of Pongal celebrations. In the age-old practice, a bull is released into a crowd of people and participants of the event try to grab the large hump on the bull’s back, attempting to bring the bull to stop.
Due to the risk of injury, both to the participants and the bull, the animal rights organisations had called for a ban to the sport. However, after long protests by the people against the ban, the Supreme Court, in May 2023, upheld the Tamil Nadu Government’s law allowing the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ in the State.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar was hearing a batch of petitions challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra Governments’ laws allowing the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ and bullock cart races.
The Tamil Nadu Government had defended the event of “Jallikattu” and told the apex court that sporting events can also be a cultural event and there is no cruelty on the bulls in “Jallikattu”.
(with inputs from ANI)
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