Jallikattu 2026: Why Alanganallur’s bull tamers risk their lives

This is Captain speaking: S Muthaiah (55)

I should’ve died 5 years ago. I was coming backmost aft giving my bull a bath, starring it by a rope. I turned to look it for immoderate crushed and successful a flash, it gored maine successful my groin. The doctors said I wouldn’t person made it live had the horns gone adjacent an inch deeper. But I’ve seen worse. They don’t telephone maine Captain for nothing. I’ve had to get 534 stitches successful my assemblage from the clip I started taming bulls erstwhile I was 18 years old. There are scars each implicit me.

We were 3 of us: Sridhar, Kavvu, and myself. I bought a second-hand Bullet from an ex-Army antheral for ₹1,500 erstwhile I was 17, and we would thrust it to each jallikattu lawsuit successful and astir Madurai. Petrol outgo conscionable ₹21 a litre then. My parent Rasamma would bless maine with vibhuti before we left, wishing maine victory. She would garbage to speech to maine oregon provender maine if I returned empty-handed. But I mostly ever won something.

Silver lamps, alloy pots, metallic bureaux, metallic coins, golden chains…I’ve adjacent won bikes and cars for taming bulls. I’ve mislaid number of the fig of bulls I’ve caught. But I bash retrieve the mode each of them behaved astatine the vaadi. The ones that leapt successful the air, the ones that ran similar the wind, the ones that took purpose with their horns… I’ve studied them up adjacent and today, I bid boys successful my colony to tame them.

I person implicit 600 students who travel to maine to larn tactics and techniques. We stitchery connected my terrace successful the evenings arsenic jallikattu nears and I archer them astir each bull’s characteristics. I person friends who nonstop maine a database of the participating bulls successful each jallikattu and I bid my boys however to attack each of them. Our halfway squad consists of 10 to 30 men and we question to jallikattu events happening crossed South Tamil Nadu during the Pongal season.

I basal 50 to 100 metres from the vaadivasal to measure each bull that charges extracurricular and rapidly walk connected tips to my students successful the arena. Our squad commands respect wherever we go. Over the years, immoderate of my students person died. When I was younger, if a bull gored immoderate of my chap villagers to death, I would travel it to its adjacent jallikattu. I would not remainder until I tamed it. I particularly retrieve a kari, a achromatic 1 from Pudukottai with a achromatic flower-like signifier connected its forehead. A person got killed trying to tame it successful Alanganallur and I ensured I caught it soon after, gathering it oculus to eye.

Men tame bulls to beryllium a point. To grounds their masculinity; to gain pridefulness and respect. They go heroes, you see. In my younger years, I’ve heard my gramps accidental fathers would connection to wed their daughters to the antheral who tamed a peculiar bull. Every lad calved successful this colony enters the vaadi once he’s ready. That’s however it is. This ungraded is such. It won’t fto a antheral rest.

Like father, similar son: M Malarmannan (39)

My lad Mugund Varman is conscionable 4 and I’ve already started grooming him for jallikattu. Our favourite workout is maine wearing fake horns and charging from a country portion helium waits astatine the door. He would hop onto my backmost and cling to my cervix arsenic though it’s a bull’s hump. We person amusive doing it and helium squeals successful joyousness but successful reality, I’m preparing him. He’s not frightened of bulls the aforesaid mode I wasn’t erstwhile I was his age.

I grew up astir bulls. Men from our household person been successful complaint of the Muniyandi temple successful Alanganallur for generations. Every year, earlier the event, owners would bring their bulls to the temple to question Muniyandi’s blessings. As a small boy, I observed the bulls’ each move. I would fell down my begetter oregon uncle arsenic they smeared vibhuti on the bull’s forehead. It would fto retired a mighty enactment — huffff — and I would tremble. But my elders would thrust maine towards it: ‘It won’t wounded you. Don’t beryllium afraid,’ they would chide.

Gradually, my fears dissipated. I moved closer, feeling its skin, taking successful its smell, touching its tail. I did support my region — a bull is simply a bull — but I got to recognize however it would behave. There would ever beryllium a radical of boys practicing with a calf successful Alanganallur and I would beryllium adjacent to observe them. They would necktie a enactment to its cervix and basal astir it to effort and drawback it. This is however I learnt a bull’s effect to assorted actions. I learnt erstwhile it would thrust its horns to complaint and erstwhile it would kick. I besides learnt wherefore it did so. This helped maine cognize the carnal successful and out.

It was lone earthy that I took portion successful jallikattu erstwhile I was older. The instrumentality to successfully tame a bull is to enactment swiftly with a keen oculus connected its movements. If it leaps, I ticker for the feet due to the fact that if I don’t move, I tin travel nether its hooves. If it’s a suthu maadu, 1 that runs successful circles, I curl 1 manus astir its hump, my assemblage brushing against its body, and determination successful the aforesaid direction. It volition propulsion its caput backwards and I arch my caput to debar the horns. It volition yet dilatory down, giving up.

These are moves a tamer learns connected the field; those that volition prevention his beingness erstwhile the bull decides to attack. I person won a batch of prizes successful jallikattu, but I’ve besides mislaid a batch due to the fact that of it. Once, a bull placed its afloat value connected my near ft and I ended up severely injured. I had signed up for constabulary grooming that twelvemonth and had to springiness it up. Luckily, I ended up becoming a Physical Education teacher astatine a schoolhouse successful Madurai. I cognize galore boys successful my colony who’ve fixed up dependable vocation pursuits to pursuit bulls. If it pulls you in, you spell successful deep. Before you cognize it, your champion years are gone.

I’ve taken a interruption from jallikattu aft marriage. As the superior earning subordinate of the family, if thing happens to me, my woman and lad volition beryllium affected. But I volition walk connected my bequest to my son. The odor of the bull, sweat, and ungraded and the occurrence successful the men extracurricular the vadivaasal — I privation him to consciousness it all.