Despite severe restrictions imposed on the number of bulls, bull-tamers and spectators thanks to the pandemic, Jallikattu organisers are hopeful of the show going on this Pongal.
About 42 people, including 14 tamers and 16 spectators, were injured in the second major event of the Pongal 2024 Jallikattu season at Palamedu in Madurai on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy.
Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images captures glimpses from Jallikattu this year
Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.
The 26-year-old construction worker, whose passion is to tame bulls, appeared unstoppable in taming nine bulls, but succumbed after he was fatally gored by a bull at the jallikattu event in the district.
Nineteen-year old Kalimuthu, who was seated in a front row of the viewers' gallery, suffered fatal stomach injury when the bull running in the playing arena suddenly strayed and attacked him.
Twenty competitors were injured, three of them seriously, in the popular 'Jallikattu' (taming the bull) event held at nearby Palamedu as part of Pongal harvest festival.
The popular bull- taming competition held on Pongal day in Madurai district left about 59 people, including tamers, bull owners and spectators injured.
About 40 bull tamers were injured, they said.
DMK working president M K Stalin led a protest in Chennai and sought promulgation of an ordinance to allow holding the sport.
The die-hard supporters of the sport along with major political parties in the state have been demanding an ordinance for conducting Jallikattu.
As the feisty bulls, one after the other started racing towards the lengthy sporting arena from the entrance, known as 'vadivasal,' young men waiting with bated breath strained every nerve to latch on to the hump of the animals.
With the Supreme Court reinforcing its stay on jallikattu, the state BJP hopes it can persuade its party leadership to bring in an ordinance. But this is a path filled with risk, reports R Ramasubramanian.
The harvest festival of Pongal was celebrated across Tamil Nadu on Friday, though the festivity was low key in southern districts, including Madurai, following the Supreme Court ban on the bull taming sport of Jallikattu.
Supporters of the bull taming sport Jalikattu on Tuesday staged protests in Tamil Nadu after SC stayed the Centre's notification lifting the ban on it.
There were incidents of stone-pelting and burning of vehicles and sundry items at various places in protest against the police action.
Two days after the Supreme Court banned Jallikattu (bull fight), the residents of Alanganallur and Palamedu villages in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu observed a one-day fast on Sunday morning, pleading the apex court to vacate the ban. Over 500 villagers, including 100 women and children, began the fast near the old police atation at Alanganallur. The shopkeepers downed their shutters, for the second day, as a mark of protest against the ban.
The event -- held as part of the harvest festival, Pongal, with fanfare -- attracted hundreds of people from the district as well as from the neighbouring areas. It was the first such event held after the apex court reversed its order and granted conditional permission following a petition by the state government.
Different petitions for and against Jallikattu were posted for hearing in the first week of February.
Police said nearly 400 bulls from Virdhunagar, Madurai, Theni, Dindigul and Sivagangai districts were used in the event. \n\n
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances