As the bright sun casts a warm golden hue, I arrive at Thatchankurichi, a quaint hamlet in Pudukottai district, all done up to open the season’s first jallikattu in Tamil Nadu.
Rows upon rows of majestic bulls line the village roads. The animals, adorned with colourful garlands, are their owners’ pride.
Karuppan from Mangadevanpatti village is happy, as his bull ‘Bullet’ has dodged many a daring tamer and won him a chair. The man, who tends to Bullet like his sibling, feeds it rice bran, corn, oil cake, coconuts and cotton seeds. The nutritious diet costs him ₹300 a day. “No one has tamed Bullet in the last two years. With the commencement of the season, I want to take him across the State to compete in more events,” he says.
