Pudukkottai to host jallikattu fest today

TIRUCHY: After a long battle, Thatchankurichi village in Pudukkottai is poised to host the first jallikattu event of the year on Friday with more safety measures and the organisers, after receiving the government notification on Thursday, have been inviting online registration for the bulls as well as the tamers.

It is a usual affair in Thatchankurichi village to hold jallikattu on January 1 every year as a part of the Arockia Annai basilica festival and the Pongal celebrations organised by the church. However, last year, owing to certain strict restrictions, the event was organised on January 13.

Against such a backdrop, the organisers had approached the district administration 30 days ago and also were seeking permission from the district veterinary department but failed to get any proper response.

“We visited the officials concerned almost every day but were asked to wait. We were told that the State has to initiate steps and issue a notification. We were sceptical about the successful conduct of the event for which we had almost completed the initial works including the vadivasal (entry point of bulls into the arena) and the rings,” one of the organisers said.

Till Thursday afternoon, the organisers were sitting with fingers crossed when they received the notification from the government after which the online registration for bulls and tamers commenced.

According to the organisers, 700 bulls from across the State and 300 tamers would take part in the event. The veterinary department has commenced the assessment of the bulls while a medical team has been camping in the venue to ascertain the fitness of the tamers. This apart, safety measures are being initiated as per the norms, the organisers said. ↔ More on P4