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As Tamil Nadu celebrates Pongal, a harvest festival, at least 36 people, including a sub-inspector, were injured as the bull-taming sport Avaniyapuram Jallikattu kicked off in Madurai on Monday.
Six of the 36 have been shifted to Rajaji Government Hospital in Madurai for treatment. Earlier, 29 people were injured in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai.
As many as 1,000 bulls and 600 tamers have been registered for the event. It began on Monday at 8 am and will be held for the next three days.
People across the state ushered in the auspicious Tamil month ‘Thai‘, preparing the sweet dish ‘Pongal’, made of rice and jaggery to symbolise prosperity.
HOW IS JALLIKATTU PLAYED?
On the first day of the auspicious month when Suriya Pongal is celebrated, Jallikattu is organised. Eight rounds of the bull-embracing sport are played between 8 am and 4 pm in Avaniyapuram.
For each round, at least 70 bulls are released from the Vadivasal (bull tunnel). The bulls charge onto the ground in a haphazard manner and try to find their way out. Tamers who can control the maximum number of charging bulls are escalated to further rounds.
RULES OF THE SPORT
Tamers are not allowed to hold the bull’s horns and cling to its legs.
A tamer will be considered a winner if he can hold on to the bull until it crosses 100 meters or until it completes three spins.
Only one tamer is allowed to catch a bull after it leaves the tunnel.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
The bulls will be queued up and released only after thorough medical inspection. Similarly, bull tamers also undergo medical tests before taking part in the sport.
Medical camps are conducted while multiple ambulances are kept on standby in case of an emergency to shift participants to the nearby hospital.
At Avaniyapuram, as many as 800 police personnel were deployed and at least 20 medical teams are present at the spot to provide immediate medical assistance.
