15,047 bull owners, 5,234 bull tamers register for three jallikattu events in Madurai

Ahead of the jallikattu events to be held in Madurai district as part of the Pongal festival, 15,047 bull owners and 5,234 bull tamers have registered online to participate at Avaniyapuram, Palamedu and Alanganallur.

The Avanyiapuram jallikattu will take place on January 15, Palamedu on January 16, and the famous Alanganallur event will be held on January 17.

To select bulls and bull tamers for participation in these three jallikattu competitions, applications were received online starting earlier this week.

Last year, a total of 12,632 bulls were registered on the website, with 2,026 bull registrations for Avaniyapuram, 4,820 for Palamedu, and 5,786 for Alanganallur jallikattu events.

However, this year, a total of 15,047 bulls have been registered on the website, with 3,090 bulls for Avaniyapuram, 5,747 for Palamedu, and 6,210 for Alanganallur. Compared to last year, 2,415 additional bulls have been registered in the current year, said officials.

Similarly, last year, a total of 4,499 bull tamers registered on the website, with 1,735 bull tamers for Avaniapuram, 1,914 for Palamedu, and 850 for Alanganallur.

With an increase this year, a total of 5,234 bull tamers have registered on the website, with 1,849 bull tamers for Avaniyapuram village, 1,913 for Palamedu village, and 1,472 for Alanganallur village. Compared to last year, 735 additional bull tamers have registered in the current year.

The District Administration has released an announcement stating that committees comprising officials from the Revenue, Animal Husbandry and Health (medical) departments have been appointed to scrutinize the eligibility of the bulls and bull tamers registered via the website.

Following the scrutiny by these committees, arrangements have been made for eligible bulls and bull tamers to download tokens via the website, they added.

Also, those bull owners and bull tamers registered online will be selected based on eligibility and an online token with a QR code which will be sent via email or SMS, which must be downloaded and shown before being permitted to enter during the competition.

In order to prevent irregularities, only bull tamers and bulls who have downloaded the token with a QR code will be permitted to participate in the jallikattu sport.

Similarly, a warning has been issued that if it is found that bull owners or bull tamers use fake tokens during the competitions held at the three locations, strict action will be taken against them.