Madurai: Nearly 50,000 spectators gathered from various parts of the state to watch the bulls passing through Vadi Vasal in Alanganallur on Friday and taking on tamers in the arena from 8.15 am. The village festival committee also set up an exclusive gallery for students as a token of gratitude for their contribution to a protest on the Marina beach in Chennai to safeguard the traditional sport of the Tamils.
The performance of the bulls of Alanganallur held the audience spellbound. The bull tamers couldn’t tame the first three bulls released. The spectators raised their voice in unison when woman bull owner Rani from Pallapatti village in Dindigul district challenged the bull tamers betting Rs 1,000 (apart from prize money distributed by the village committee) to prove their valour against her bull. When her brave bull crossed the victory mark (100 metres from the arena) untamed within a few seconds, Rani emerged from the Vadi Vasal (entry point into arena for the bulls) with a smile on her face even as the crowed welcomed her with loud applause. DMK leader Stalin gifted her with a gold ring.
Another woman bull owner, Selvarani (42) from Chennagarmaptti village near Melur, won a washing machine, refrigerator, gas stove and household items for her bull. “I dedicate this victory to the student community who protested to save jallikattu,” Selvarani told DC. As many as 549 bulls and 1,050 bull tamers participated in the event and many of them went home with a handful of gifts - minimum of Rs 5,000 and a maximum of Rs 50,000 including gold and silver coins, motorbikes, silk saris, a LCD TV and other household items worth well over '1 crore. The district collector, Veera Raghava Rao, who introduced a scoring system in the jallikattu for the first time in the state by which awards were given to the five best bull tamers and bull owners.
Vimalraj from Pannaikudi near Madurai received a Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle and a native bull for taming 13 bulls. The second topper, Manikandan Prabhu from Madurai, also received a Bullet (he tamed 12 bulls). Three more tamers also received motor bikes. Jallikattu Peravai’s P.Rajasekar received a power tiller as second prize for his bull and three other bull owners received Royal Enfield bikes. The village committee gave away prizes to all the participating bulls to spread awareness among the people to save the indigenous bulls from extinction.
The collector said 18 people, including eight bull tamers, sustained bloody injuries and were treated at GRH, Madurai. “Only two spectators sustained critical injuries and their health condition is stable,” said a senior government doctor. Three injured bulls were tended to at the veterinary dispensary and then sent home with their owners. Making it clear it was not a venue for political issue, DMK leader M K Stalin thanked the student community for their struggle to safeguard the Tamil culture. He also recalled the protest that he participated in at the same venue urging for the conduct of jallikattu. The villages also thanked the Tamil Nadu Government for passing a bill to conduct the event. The CM, O.Panneerselvam’s name was announced twice during the event.
