Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 12 (ANI): Ahead of the upcoming Jallikattu competitions that are going to be held in Madurai, close to the local harvest festival Pongal, a consultative meeting on the scheduled bull-taming events was held at the Madurai District Collectorate under the leadership of state minister Moorthy on Thursday. Addressing media persons after the meeting, the minister said, “Jallikattu events are scheduled to be held at Avaniyapuram on January 15. There is also the Palamedu Jallikattu competition at Palamedu village on January 16 and the world-renowned Alanganallur Jallikattu competition on the 17th.”
The best bull and the best bull-tamer in the three Jallikattu events would stand to win a car each, the minister added. “12,176 bulls and 4,514 bull tamers across the state have been enlisted online to participate in Jallikattu competitions in the district. The entries would be scrutinised. Those who had made double entries and those who had applied without proper documents would be rejected,” the minister said.
A total of 2,400 bulls and 1,318 tamers have been registered for Avaniapuram Jallikattu; 3,677 bulls and 1,412 tamers for Palamedu Jallikattu; and 6,099 bulls and 1,784 tamers for the Alanganallur event, he informed. Sri Lanka recently hosted its first Jallikattu event in Triconmalee, with the country’s Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman and Malaysia’s member of parliament Saravanan Murugan flagging off the event on January 6.
Jallikattu is a popular bull-embracing sport traditionally played in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal harvest festival in the second week of January. In 2014, the Supreme Court imposed a ban on Jallikattu but in 2017, the Tamil Nadu government passed an ordinance to allow the event while introducing certain regulations to ensure the safety of both participants and bulls.
After strident protests by the people against the ban, the Supreme Court in India 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 heard a batch of petitions challenging the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments’ laws allowing the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu‘ and bullock cart races.
The Tamil Nadu government had defended the event, telling the apex court that sporting events can also be cultural events and there is no cruelty on bulls involved in Jallikattu competitions. (ANI)
