With the Pongal festival approaching, Tamil Nadu bull trainers in Madurai have started to gear up for Jallikattu, the traditional but highly controversial bull-taming sport for which tamers spend months raising bulls. Last week Tamil Nadu government granted permission to hold the sport following certain restrictions, the event is set to be held in Madurai and surrounding villages from January 15 to 17.
The most popular sites for the sport is the Alanganallur village in Madurai district which often receives tourists from all over the world to witness the sport. The process of registration for the bull will begin 10 days in advance, with medical check-up for both the bulls and Jallikattu cattle players. Bulls are trained through an intensive process called ‘mann kuthal’, the process in which the bulls develop their skills by digging their horns in the wet earth.
One of the trainer named Nivethan along with his family have been raising five Jallikattu bulls, especially for the festival said, “I take the bulls out to train twice a day, one in the morning, and one in the evening. The festival will be held next week". The government directive says the number of players cannot be more than 150 at an event and Covid-19 negative certificates have been made mandatory for players. The number of audience has also been restricted to 50 per cent of the gathering.
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