The wall adjacent to the vaadivasal (the bull’s entry point) in the jallikkattu arena at Alanganallur in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu carries a painting of a person holding on to the hump of a bull, accompanied by the caption ‘The venue of Alanganallur’s world famous jallikkattu.’
Of all the places in Madurai, Tiruchi, and a few other districts of Tamil Nadu where jallikkattu takes place, Alanganallur is synonymous with the bull-taming sport, the ban on which triggered unprecedented protests across Tamil Nadu in 2017. The ban was lifted through a special legislation of the State government.
What happened?
Alanganallur played a crucial role in the protest: the forceful eviction by the police of a group of protesters , who were on a sit-in in the arena, in the early hours of January 17, 2017, acted as a flashpoint, leading the people to come out in large numbers across the State , particularly on the Marina Beach in Chennai.
Why is the sport popular?
Interestingly, the location and alignment of the arena at Alanganallur are the factors that make the sport more spectacular there. In almost all the places, ‘vaadivasal’ is aligned to the play area in such a way that a bull coming out of the entry gate has to run straight to the exit point. According to J. Sundarrajan, president of the jallikkattu Organising Committee, it is different at Alanganallur where the bulls have to immediately turn left after coming out of ‘vaadivasal.’ This makes most of the bulls pause for a moment and increases the chances of an encounter with those waiting to tame them.
Though Alanganallur is the only place to have a dedicated gallery for foreign tourists, there appears to be a palpable discouragement to host them in the last couple of years with a suspicion among a section of the villagers that animal rights activists from organisations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals visit under the garb of foreign tourists and later release videos on ‘cruelty to the bulls.’
What about spectators?
Alanganallur’s fame has made it the preferred destination for releasing the best bulls from across Tamil Nadu and even other States. This year, there was a rush to register for the event, says Mr. Sundarrajan. Since 2017, it has attracted not only more visitors but also big sponsors, with cars and expensive bikes being offered as gifts to the best bulls and tamers.
The event’s significance was further endorsed by the fact that Edappadi K. Palaniswami flagged it off last year, the first time a Chief Minister inaugurated a jallikkattu. The safety measures for the bulls and tamers were significantly improved, resulting in fewer injuries. However this year, the death of spectators made it clear that it needs to be regulated better.
What’s the history?
According to Sahitya Akademi awardee and Madurai-based writer Su. Venkatesan, the evolution of Alangnallur as the most famous venue of jallikkattu must have happened only around a century ago, particularly after the construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam and the Periyar Canal that irrigates the Madurai region. He says that while historical artefacts and literature are replete with references to jallikkattu being conducted for centuries in many places around Madurai, including Tirumangalam, Karadikkal, Vedar Puliankulam and Alanganallur, none was an annual affair. “Jallikkattu events are organised as part of festivals at the temples of village deities. They are an expensive affair and were, therefore, organised only in the years when the harvests were bountiful,” he says.
Mr. Venkatesan points out that the construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam in the late 19th century by British engineer Col. John Pennycuick, however, ensured irrigation in several pockets of the rain-fed Madurai region, including Alanganallur and Palamedu, another popular place for jallikkattu, and consequently facilitated the conduct of the event at these places every year, thereby making them more popular than other places.
