Alanganallur: Moving beyond a cultural tradition, Jallikattu – the popular bull-taming sport of the state — also means big business. A ban means a huge drop in the price of these sought-after bulls, resulting in big financial losses for farmers.
A bull that is participating for the first time in the sport sells for sky-high prices, even the tried and tested ones fetch a good price. The gallery collection means the owners make good profit on their outlay.
But in absence of the sport, the bulls are of no use, say their owners. A few, ferocious breeds of bulls are used for jallikattu. They cannot be tamed or used for any domestic purpose like ploughing fields or drawing carts.
At Jallikattu capital Alanganallur, Somu and his sons had to sell their prize winning bull Karuppaswamy after the sport was banned last year. The bull, worth Rs. 1.5 lakh, was sold for a meagre Rs. 32,000, reported NDTV.
“If there’s no jallikattu, the effort to rear the bull goes waste. If jallikattu is brought back, we will buy a new bull,” Soomu said.
Not far away, at another village in Madurai, Palaniswamy is disappointed. Even after jallikattu ban, the farmer spent more than Rs. 100 every day to keep his untamed bull, hoping for a revival.
Not all, however, agree. Shalini Sundararajan, a local resident, argued, “Just because a child doesn’t study well, we don’t give to someone. A bull is like our child. We would look after it”.
The ancient cultural tradition, which, activists say result in cruelty to animals, also preserved native breeds and the ban could make these bulls extinct, say a section of the locals.
Dr Chinny Krishna, Vice President, Animal Welfare Board of India, however ridiculed the theory. “There are several ways of preserving these breeds than this cruelty,” he said.