Rivetting action marked world famous Alanganallur Jallikattu

Chennai, Jan 17 : After a day of rivetting action, the World famous Alanganallur Jallikattu (bull taming sport) ended on Tuesday evening in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu.
The event which began at 8.00 A.M. ended at 5.00 P.M with Tamil Nadu Sports and Youth.Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin flagging off the event. A total of 820 bulls were released from Vaadivasal and more than 300
bull tamers took part in the event. Abhi Siddhar of Pooventhi village bagged the first for taming a maximum number of 26 bulls and was given a car as prize on behalf of the Chief Minister and a country cow.
After taming 15 bulls midway, he suffered minor injury in an accident when a vehicle which entered the arena, hit him However, he came back after getting treatment from the doctors present at the venue and ended up taming a record 26 bulls to bag the first prize. Ajay of Enathur village second for taming 20 bulls and got a motorbike as prize, while Ranjith finished third taming 12 bulls and got a 2-wheeler as prize.
Organisers announced that gold coins will be given to the owners of the bulls which were not released from Vaadivasal. The bull belonging to Pudukottai Kaikurichi Tamilsevan was adjudged as the best bull and a car was given as award to its owner on behalf of Minister Udhyanidhi Stalin and a country cow.
The bull owned by Suresh of Pudukottai was adjudged the second best and was given a two-wheeler as prize, while the bull owned by Raja of Vellampazhampatti in Udilampatti was adjudged the third best and was given a scooter. About 50 people, including bull tamers, were injured during the event. Earlier, as the bulls were released from the vaadivasal into the open arena, enthusiastic tamers flexed their muscles to win over
the animals after the Minister flagged off the events in the presence of Madurai District Collector S.Aneesh Sekhar, who administered the traditional pledge for the fair conduct of the event. The Alanganallur Jallikattu brought the curtains down on the four-day Pongal festivities in the State.On Sunday Jallikattu was held at Avuniyapuram. The event was held at Palamedu ysterday and at Alanganallur today. All the three were the traditional venues for holding the bull taming sport every year during the harvest festival.
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, 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, Avinayapuram 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 now. It is inextricably linked to rural, agrarian customs and has religious overtones, with families donating bulls to temples in fulfilment of vows.