02-14-2005, 10:22 PM
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/02/13/storie...21300480800.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TRADITION
Taming the bull
It's seen as a part of the culture of rural Tamil Nadu and any talk of banning it meets with stiff resistance. SURESH NAMBATH on the sport of jallikattu.
A LONE bull against several hundred young men. But the contest is fairly even. When the animal is not running away from the men, the men are running away from the animal. In the end, however, the bull, though badly bruised, would have accounted for three or four youths: all gored to death.
Every year, about the time of Pongal, the harvest festival, the southern districts of Tamil Nadu play host to jallikattu, a rural sport that involves the taming of a bull by a crowd of unarmed youths in an open arena. Young men try to prove their valour by holding on to the hump of the bull for as long as they can. In the process, many are pierced by the horns, many more injured in the stampede caused by those fleeing from the scene of action, and the animal is put through great suffering. But the sport endures.
The origins of jallikattu date back several centuries. However, what was once a test of strength that pitted one man against a raging bull is now a free-for-all in a large open space. In the past, contenders for salli or coins in a kattu or bundle tied between the horns of the bull could also hope to win a bride from among the women who watched the game. Now, however, the rewards are household articles and some cash: young women are not so easily enamoured by bull-tamers. Fame too does not last for more than a few weeks and rarely travels beyond the hero's native village.
Cruelty to the animal
But the charm of jallikattu is its nature as a true participant-sport â indeed in some places the participants outnumber the spectators who are separated only by barricades that get no respect from the bull. There is a mob frenzy that overwhelms the rational faculties of the participants. The dashes of courage and the spasms of fear in alternately chasing the bull and running away from it are infectious. This also sets the stage for a rivalry among the men that is quite independent of the attempts to conquer the bull.
Jallikattu is then an adventure sport. Flirting with danger is intrinsic to it. Without the fear and the danger, there is no thrill. The young men get a kick out of overcoming their fear, and not in being oblivious to the danger. Thus the most ferocious and specially trained bulls are chosen; the horns are sharpened. Sometimes, the animals have lime squeezed into their eyes to make them wild; at other times, they are fed with liquor or their tail is twisted or bitten to achieve the same purpose.
In the international calendar
However, the adventure elements make it a spectator event for outsiders. While locals might think it no thrill to watch the event from a safe distance, jallikattu is featured in the international tourist calendar. The bull taming in Alanganallur, near Madurai, is the most famous of all jallikattus drawing comparisons with Pamplona in Spain. Although not yet a television sport, many tourists find the large crowds chasing a lone animal a great attraction. From a vantage point, the charging bull creating space by dispersing the crowd ahead of it, and the chasers closing the gap behind it, is a spectacle.
Jallikattu (above) is often compared with the bull-run in Pamplona, Spain.
Alanganallur attracts bulls and tamers from neighbouring districts too. Not that the surrounding areas lack their own jallikattus: the events are spread over two months from the time of Pongal in mid-January. Unlike in bull fighting, the animal is not killed in jallikattu. But the bull, beaten and battered into submission, often ends up maimed. The death toll of bull tamers, however, is at least four or five every year.
Reactions to a ban
Although there have been protests at the conduct of such violent sports, the authorities have not made efforts beyond attempts at regulating crowds. Safety of the participants cannot be ensured without banning jallikattu. But youths in Madurai, Sivaganga, Pudukottai and Tiruchi, where jallikattu is very popular, see the sport as a part of their culture and identity. Any talk of a ban evokes stiff resistance. Opponents of jallikattu are seen as urbane outsiders who have no idea of a rural sport.
Jallikattu is steeped in the agrarian economy of cattle rearing and farm labour. It is also an integral part of the rural belief systems. Village elders consider failure to hold the event as a bad omen.
Moreover, youths in rural areas value participant sports, and not spectator sports popularised by television. After all, there is no sport that does not carry the risk of injury. If the participants of jallikattu do not have protective gear, it speaks of their poverty levels and the rural and unorganised nature of the sport. But then again, without the risk of injury and death, without the chance to prove valour, jallikattu would not be jallikattu.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TRADITION
Taming the bull
It's seen as a part of the culture of rural Tamil Nadu and any talk of banning it meets with stiff resistance. SURESH NAMBATH on the sport of jallikattu.
A LONE bull against several hundred young men. But the contest is fairly even. When the animal is not running away from the men, the men are running away from the animal. In the end, however, the bull, though badly bruised, would have accounted for three or four youths: all gored to death.
Every year, about the time of Pongal, the harvest festival, the southern districts of Tamil Nadu play host to jallikattu, a rural sport that involves the taming of a bull by a crowd of unarmed youths in an open arena. Young men try to prove their valour by holding on to the hump of the bull for as long as they can. In the process, many are pierced by the horns, many more injured in the stampede caused by those fleeing from the scene of action, and the animal is put through great suffering. But the sport endures.
The origins of jallikattu date back several centuries. However, what was once a test of strength that pitted one man against a raging bull is now a free-for-all in a large open space. In the past, contenders for salli or coins in a kattu or bundle tied between the horns of the bull could also hope to win a bride from among the women who watched the game. Now, however, the rewards are household articles and some cash: young women are not so easily enamoured by bull-tamers. Fame too does not last for more than a few weeks and rarely travels beyond the hero's native village.
Cruelty to the animal
But the charm of jallikattu is its nature as a true participant-sport â indeed in some places the participants outnumber the spectators who are separated only by barricades that get no respect from the bull. There is a mob frenzy that overwhelms the rational faculties of the participants. The dashes of courage and the spasms of fear in alternately chasing the bull and running away from it are infectious. This also sets the stage for a rivalry among the men that is quite independent of the attempts to conquer the bull.
Jallikattu is then an adventure sport. Flirting with danger is intrinsic to it. Without the fear and the danger, there is no thrill. The young men get a kick out of overcoming their fear, and not in being oblivious to the danger. Thus the most ferocious and specially trained bulls are chosen; the horns are sharpened. Sometimes, the animals have lime squeezed into their eyes to make them wild; at other times, they are fed with liquor or their tail is twisted or bitten to achieve the same purpose.
In the international calendar
However, the adventure elements make it a spectator event for outsiders. While locals might think it no thrill to watch the event from a safe distance, jallikattu is featured in the international tourist calendar. The bull taming in Alanganallur, near Madurai, is the most famous of all jallikattus drawing comparisons with Pamplona in Spain. Although not yet a television sport, many tourists find the large crowds chasing a lone animal a great attraction. From a vantage point, the charging bull creating space by dispersing the crowd ahead of it, and the chasers closing the gap behind it, is a spectacle.
Jallikattu (above) is often compared with the bull-run in Pamplona, Spain.
Alanganallur attracts bulls and tamers from neighbouring districts too. Not that the surrounding areas lack their own jallikattus: the events are spread over two months from the time of Pongal in mid-January. Unlike in bull fighting, the animal is not killed in jallikattu. But the bull, beaten and battered into submission, often ends up maimed. The death toll of bull tamers, however, is at least four or five every year.
Reactions to a ban
Although there have been protests at the conduct of such violent sports, the authorities have not made efforts beyond attempts at regulating crowds. Safety of the participants cannot be ensured without banning jallikattu. But youths in Madurai, Sivaganga, Pudukottai and Tiruchi, where jallikattu is very popular, see the sport as a part of their culture and identity. Any talk of a ban evokes stiff resistance. Opponents of jallikattu are seen as urbane outsiders who have no idea of a rural sport.
Jallikattu is steeped in the agrarian economy of cattle rearing and farm labour. It is also an integral part of the rural belief systems. Village elders consider failure to hold the event as a bad omen.
Moreover, youths in rural areas value participant sports, and not spectator sports popularised by television. After all, there is no sport that does not carry the risk of injury. If the participants of jallikattu do not have protective gear, it speaks of their poverty levels and the rural and unorganised nature of the sport. But then again, without the risk of injury and death, without the chance to prove valour, jallikattu would not be jallikattu.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->