TN witnesses more Jallikattu & bull-racing events this year

TAMIL Nadu witnessed an increase in cattle sports, including bull-taming and racing, with 138 more events held between January and May this year compared to the same period last year.

- B ANBUSELVAN @ Chennai

According to official sources, a total of 352 events of Jallikattu (bull taming), Eruthu Vidum Vizha (bull racing), and Manju Virattu (bull chasing) were conducted across 19 districts involving approximately 1.14 lakh bulls.

This is more than a 50% jump compared to the 214 such sporting events held in 2024.

The tentative number of bulls that took part in these events may be 25,000 to 26,000 as one bull usually participates in four to five events.

Due to a lack of unique code to identify each participating bull, the official figure of 1.14 lakh participating bulls may be inflated, sources said.

Around 41,000 bull tamers took part in these events across the state.

As per the last livestock census taken in 2019, Tamil Nadu had around 3.3 lakh indigenous bulls.