A festive spirit permeated Kuyilapalayam, a non-descript village near Auroville as large number of foreign tourists and locals flocked to the village square on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the annual ManjuVirattu or bull race event.
Tourists from countries in Europe turned up in large numbers in front of the local Pidariamman temple to watch the event.
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ManjuVirattu, hosted by the village for the last six decades, served as a grand finale for the three-day Pongal festivities. Unlike Jallikattu, Manju Virattu does not involve taming the bulls.
The event commenced at 11.30 a.m. after pujas were performed at the temple. The deity was brought in a procession near the temple, where cattle, including bulls, cows and calves from the surrounding 22 villages, decked up with balloons and bananas were lined up for the race.
The bulls were let loose and made to run through the streets in the village. People including foreigners converged on both sides and cheered the bulls and clicked photographs.
According to Yatra Srinivasan, Director of Yatra Art and Culture Foundation, an organisation from Auroville, “Manju Virattu is an ancient Tamil tradition and the event is hugely popular among foreigners visiting Auroville. The Pongal festival is very significant here as none of the villagers from the Auroville bio region celebrate such an event.”
