Palamedu Jallikattu ends; Tamilarasan secures 1st place

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday rewarded a car to bull tamer, Tamilarasan from Chinnapatti, who tamed 23 bulls and secured first place in the Jallikattu event held at Palamedu in Madurai on the occasion of Pongal.

Manikandan from Palamedu secured second place by taming 19 bulls and was rewarded a bike on behalf of Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. Raja from Palamedu, who tamed 15 bulls secured the third place.

Similarly, the Karuppannasamy temple bull was selected as the best bull. Dindigul Sarntha Ramesh's bull was selected for the second prize.

Jallikattu was held at Palamedu today with the usual enthusiasm on the occasion of Pongal. Tamil Nadu Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, P Moorthy kick-started the competition.

Prior to the start of the competition, District Collector Aneesh Shekhar led by MLAs A Venkatesan and Bhoominathan in the presence of bull tamers, bull owners, and the festival organisers the Jallikattu safety pledge.

At first, seven temple bulls were released in a row from 'Vaadivasal', which none of the bull tamers liked, and then, the bulls were released one by one.

Players, who tamed most bulls were selected and sent for subsequent rounds. Prizes were distributed immediately to those who tamed the bulls and to the owners of the bulls who were not caught.

The Jallikattu event began at Palamedu at 8 am and ended at 5 pm. A total of 860 bulls were released in nine rounds of the competition.