Action-packed Alanganallur jallikattu leaves 60 injured; Bull owned by Salem’s Bahubali stole the show

MADURAI: Amid cheering spectators at Alanganallur, the venue in Madurai which has gained a global reputation for the bull taming sport, jallikattu contest got off to a rousing start.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin flagged off the event on Thursday in the presence of Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P Moorthy and Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.

A total of 1,003 bulls made their way through ‘vaadivaasal’ after screening by veterinary doctors and as many as 492 tamers tried their luck after completing formal procedures.

Stands on the sporting arena were jam-packed as spectators watched the sport with a vociferous ambience.

During the contest, many bulls jumped and ran into the arena testing the bravery of tamers, who tried their best to keep up with the raging bulls through nine rounds till the end.

At the end of every round, tamers, who got the better of bulls and vice versa, were presented with gifts, such as gold coins, utensils and bicycles.

As many as 60 persons including 20 tamers and a few bull owners and spectators were injured during the event.

Among those injured, 17 cases were referred to Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai. Earlier, 525 tamers were screened and of them, 33 tamers were rejected, Deputy Director of Health Services P Kumaraguruparan said.

Finally, a bull owned by Bahubali from Salem and A Abicithar from Poovanthi, Sivaganga district, who tamed 20 bulls to his credit, stole the show.

Both these toppers won first prize and each of them was presented with new cars.

While Chief Minister MK Stalin sponsored a tractor as the prize to the best bull owner, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi presented the car, a coveted first prize along with a native cow and calf to the best tamer.

While a bull owned by ‘Vakkil’ Parthasarathy received a motorbike along with a rotavator as the second prize, Sridhar of Pothumbu, Madurai got a ‘share auto’ as the second prize after taming 13 bulls, sources said.

Kannan’s bull from Pudukottai, which stood in third place, was given an electric bike, and Vignesh from Madapuram, who tamed 10 bulls, was presented a bike.

At last, a bull of Senthil Thondaiman, was provided with a bike for the fourth place and Ajay of Enathi, Sivaganga district, who finished fourth after taming nine bulls, was presented with a moped.

Minister Moorthy presented the prizes to the winners at the valedictory function. Madurai Collector MS Sangeetha, S Venkatesan, Madurai MP, Thanga Tamil Selvan, Theni MP and officials from various departments were among those present.