Jallikattu underway in Tamil Nadu on the occasion of Pongal amid rising COVID cases

While COVID-19 cases are on the rise, the world-famous Jallikattu festival has begun in Tamil Nadu's Avaniyapuram with more than 300 bull tamers registering for the event on the occasion of Pongal. Earlier, the first bull-taming event was held in Pudukkottai district on January 13 during which 600 bulls were registered for the event, however, it was called off.

Meanwhile, during the ongoing Jallikattu competition in Avaniyapuram, more than 65,000 bulls have been registered to participate in three events.

Visuals from the Avaniyapuram area of Madurai show bull tamers in huge numbers participating in the event.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Alanganallur Jallikattu, which was scheduled to be held on January 16, was postponed to January 17 in view of the full lockdown enforced on Sunday, informed District Collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar. 

As per the decision taken by the Jallikattu organisers and the officials for various departments, the district administration announced the Avaniyapuram Jallikattu on January 14 followed by the Palamedu event on January 15. The Alanganallur Jallikattu on January 16 has now been moved to January 17. 

The Alanganallur Jallikattu, which is celebrated in a grand manner as a state government function, is also likely to witness the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on January 17. The world famous bull-taming sport conducted in Tamil Nadu takes place every year where the organisation allots a time frame to each tamer to tame their bulls and later the winner is decided by the duration of the tamer's hold on the hump of the bull.

Tamil Nadu govt issues fresh guidelines for Jallikattu event

Earlier on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu government issued a fresh set of guidelines for the Jallikattu festival while COVID-19 cases are on the rise. As a part of it, it has only permitted 300 tamers and 150 viewers. Also, negative Covid test results have been mandated for all and people have been urged to avoid public gatherings.

This came after a group of 80 medical doctors in December had appealed to CM Stalin and Health Minister Ma Subramanian for not allowing the bull-taming sport due to the infection threat. 

Image: Twitter/@ANI