Bull Taming(Jallikattu) - A 2000 year old sport in South India

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

INDIA | Friday, 11 January 2013 | Views [350] | View Larger Image

Exhultation - When a bull goes untamed, the bulls trainer or owner gets all the rewards that were announced for the tamers. This trainer takes pride that his bull wasn't caught.

Tags: travel photography scholarship 2012 bull taming

Jallikattu(Bull taming) - An ancient sport that dates to 2000 years back is still practiced in the villages around Madurai, a city in south India. In ancient days it was to prove the courage of men to win over brides. Unlike the Spanish bull fight, here the bulls are not hurt, its the tamers who risk their life for the honor of taming a bull. 'Taming' a bull means holding or clinging on to a bull till a marked distance, usually 50 feet from the gate where the bulls are let into the arena. There are several rules to keep the sport in order like, if 2 men hold a bull they are disqualified, tamers are checked by doctors to certify they are not drunk, and bulls are checked by doctors too to assure the animal right activists that they are not drugged to make them ferocious.

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Though each of these men compete against each other in getting that first hold to tame the bull, when someone gets hurt they even miss their chance for the next bull and carry the hurt man for medical assistance.

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Bull Taming(Jallikattu) - A 2000 year old sport in South India

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

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