Chennai, Jan 17: The world famous Alanganallur Jallikattu event, taming of bulls, associated with the annual Pongal festivities in southern Tamil Nadu, began with much fanfare on Saturday.
Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated the prestigious event, touted as the Blue Riband event, to be witnessed by tens and hundreds of tourists, that will mark the culmination of the four-day Pongal festivities in the State.
This is the third and final in the line of events after the sport was held at Avaniyapuram and Palamedu on January 15 and 16 in Madurai district.
About 1,000 Bulls and nearly 600-700 bull tamers have registered for the event, which will be the cynosure of all eyes as it will be garnering world wide attention.
Upon arrival at Madurai, Mr Stalin flagged it off at around 0930 hrs and it would continue till the evening and the winner, based on the maximum
number of bulls tamed by the tamers displaying their valour and courage, will be decided.
His Cabinet colleagues including Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P Moorthy and other Ministers took part in the event.
The winner will get a car and the best Bull owner will get a Tractor, besides several other prizes all through the day.
Mr Stalin flagged off the Jallikattu event after the vets conducted the routine and mandatory medical tests on the bulls and on bull tamers to ascertain whether any of them were drunk and to assess their health condition, including whether they were lesser of over weight.
More than 2,000 police personnel were deployed on security duty and medical teams with doctors and ambulances were also stationed at the bull taming arena to shift those suffering injuries while taming the bulls.
The district administration has also banned flying of drones in view of the Chief Minister’s visit apart from all basic amenities to ensure the smooth conduct of the event.
Thousands of tourists from across the country and abroad were present at the grand Alanganallur event.
Special galleries were also erected to house the international tourists and as per the tradition the Vaadivasal was tastefully decorated befitting the occasion.
But it does not mean that the sheen was taken away from the Avaniyapuram and Palamedu events, which were equally significant having been part of the historic annual traditional event.
Once the gates were opened, roaring bulls charged out from Vaadivasal daring the hundreds of tamers, vying with each other, to tame it.
The event offered a wide range of prizes ranging from gold rings, gold coins, silver items, a car, tractor, two-wheelers, almirah and stainless steel utensils right though the event.
At times, it was the bull that emerged victorious as it could not be tamed by anyone. for which the best bull would be awarded prizes.
As the bulls were released from the vaadivasal into the open arena, enthusiastic tamers flexed their muscles to win over the animals after Madurai District Collector administered the traditional pledge for the fair conduct of the event at Alanganallur considered the pride of place in the history of the bull taming sport.
In all there would be 12 rounds and it would come to an end in the evening with all Tamil TV channels telecast live all through the day garnering global attention.
From time immemorial, the traditional rural sport of Jallikattu (taming of bulls), which attracts thousands of people from different parts of the country and also from abroad, as it is synonymous with the four-day long Festival of harvest- Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
No Pongal Festivities are complete without Jallikattu, being held in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
For this sport of bravery, a specific breed of cattle is reared and the youths display their courage by taming it.
Every year Alanganallur, Avaniyapuram and Palamedu panchayat towns would be tastefully decked up for the annual sport, which symbolises the heroism, valour and courage of the youth.
Jallikattu bulls are not used for any agricultural purposes. They are mostly kept as a family tradition or as a status symbol by the owners.
The Jallikattu event has considerable historical significance and is ingrained as part of the cultural tradition of Tamil Nadu as a sport which was popular among warriors since the “Sangam era”.
This tradition is followed till as it is inextricably linked to rural, agrarian customs and has religious overtones, with families donating bulls to temples in fulfillment of vows.
