TIRUCHY: Jallikattu enthusiasts from Malaysia have renewed their efforts to hold the bull-taming event in their country in the last week of March or the first week of April, after the main events in Tamil Nadu get over. An event planned last year was scuttled by animal rights activists. 

A large number of Tamil-speaking people travel from abroad to Tamil Nadu during Pongal to watch the annual events, said T Ondiraj, president, Jallikattu Pathukappu Nala Sangam, adding that many of them want to organise it in their countries.

Sri Lankan Tamils, for instance, have been holding the event since 2024.

The event in Sri Lanka was a grand success, as it had the support of the Tamil diaspora and the government there. “The authorities in Malaysia have given us two options to hold the event, either in Kuala Lumpur or in Penang. We are preparing paperwork for both places.

But we are hoping to hold jallikattu at a site near the Murugan temple in Kuala Lumpur,” Ondiraj told DT Next.

Datuk Seri M Saravanan is liaising with the Malaysian government and making the arrangements. “Malaysian native bull will be used in the jallikattu there and tamers from Tamil Nadu will take part,” he said.