Owner of bull at its best in dodging, ace tamer get car in TN 'Jallikattu'

Injuries did not seem to deter thedauntless tamers at the popular bull taming sport, Jallikattuat Alanganallur here on Saturday.

The young men, unmindful of their injuries, rushed backwith renewed vigour into the arena to hold on to the hump ofthe ferocious bulls to prove their valour.

Besides being conducted at Alanganallur, the bull sportwas held in other districts, including Sivaganga in southernTamil Nadu today, which were witnessed cumulatively bythousands of people.

In such bull taming events, nearly 100 people wereinjured and at least two spectators were feared dead (inSivaganga district) after sustaining injuries, local bullsport enthusiasts said.

Not only jallikattu, but 'Manju Virattu', anotherpopular variant of the sport, was also held in placesincluding Kuilapalayam near Auroville in Villupuram district.

Auroville is noted for the presence of foreigners in theuniversal township and many from abroad watched the ruralsport with excitement.

Rural sport like bullock cart races were also held indistricts including Pudukottai.

Today is the third day of Jallikattu in Tamil Naduand the opening event of the current Pongal season was held atAvaniapuram on January 14 and at Palamedu (both in Maduraidistrict) the subsequent day.

At Alanganallur, some bulls released into thearena, raced past the bunch of tamers, most of whomwere youngsters, with all their ferocity leaving the men dazedand some men even stepped back hastily to evade being gored.

Every time a bull was released, multiple participantsattempted to grab the hump on the bull's back with bothhands and hang on and the crowd cheered lustily.

The sport was flagged off by Chief Minister K Palaniswamiand Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, here which saw morethan 400 tamers and 800 bulls participating in the annualevent held in connection with the Pongal festival.

Both the CM and his deputy, who were accorded a warmwelcome, paid their respects to the Alanganallur temple bullbefore kick-starting the event.

The tamers and organisers, as well, took an oath not toharm the bulls and be fair in the game. Madurai districtcollector T Anbalagan was also present.

The chief minister and the deputy chief minister watchedthe event nearly for one hour.

Kannan of Viralipatti, who managed to tame about 12bulls in the Jallikattu, was adjudged the best among tamersand was rewarded with a car.Breeder Kuruvithurai Santosh'sbull, which displayed impressive strength and agility inevading the tamers, won the first prize - a car for its owner.

Karupannan who tamed 9 bulls and Sakthi who tamed 8bulls emerged as second and third, respectively, and weregiven 2 cows and a motorcycle, respectively.

Several other prices, including gold coins, motorcycles,bicycles, home appliances and mobile phones, were given awayto the tamers and bull owners.

Palaniswami said his government is committed toprotecting jallikattu, the sport of Tamil culture andtradition.

Panneerselvam lauded the Alanganallur Jallikattu andsaid that jallikattu is a ''sign of our tradition.'' More than 2,000 policemen under IG Murugan were deployedin Alanganallur. Police used mild force on some bull ownersnear the bull release point - Vadivasal, when they broughttheir bulls which were not registered to participate in theevent.

During the commotion, five bull owners and two policemensustained injuries.