5,347 tamers gear up to take on 12,632 bulls in Madurai Jallikattu
The contest will be held at Avaniyapuram on January 14, at Palamedu on January 15 and at Alanganallur on January 16
DTNEXT Bureau
MADURAI: Less than a week before Pongal, 12,632 bulls and 5,347 tamers are preparing to enter the much anticipated Jallikattu contests held from January 14 to January 16 in Madurai.
The contest will be held at Avaniyapuram on January 14, at Palamedu on January 15 and at Alanganallur on January 16. The 24-hour online registration for participating in the contest concluded on Tuesday at 5 pm.
The bull registration for the most sought-after event at Alanganallur is the highest, with 5,786 bulls. Palamedu comes in second with 4,820 bulls registered, and 2,026 bulls have been registered for the Avaniyapuram contest.
However, tamers have shown the most interest in the Palamedu contest, with 1,914 of them registering there. Following Palamedu are Avaniyapuram and Alanganallur, with 1,735 and 1,698 registering at each event, respectively.
With great anticipation and enthusiasm, bull owner and tamer N Vinoth alias 'Police' Vinoth of Veerapandi, Madurai, says six of his bulls are registered for the competition at Palamedu and Alanganallur venues. He has also registered to be a tamer at the Alanganallur contest. Vinoth expresses disappointment over not being able to secure a participation token in last year's event despite registering online and wondered about the criteria for choosing bulls and tamers to participate in the sporting event.
"As of now, I think it's even more possible to clear NEET and secure a medicine seat than get a token to participate in the Jallikattu contests," Vinoth said with a sigh.
