MADURAI: Separate rooms with a swimming pool at a stable in Tiruchy and an air-conditioned caravan to travel in style. All such arrangements were made for the convenience of Sri Lankan Minister M Senthil Thondaman’s pampered five Jallikattu bulls, which struck gold at the famed Alanganallur bull wrestling event last week.
At present the bulls of the Kannapuram breed are kept at the historic riverside town of Pudukottai. One of the bulls won a Maruti Suzuki Alto car as a prize.
Thondaman proudly said, “This is not the first time that one of my bulls have topped the chart. Many of them have separate fan followings.”
Sri Lankan Minister M Senthil Thondaman who got his five bulls to Alanganallur bull wrestling said, “Fans will crowd any event they are participating in. Like any other sport, we are striving to bring professionalism into Jallikattu.”
The bull caravans resemble the vehicles to transport horses, which participate in sports like polo and racing. Thondaman has a team of Jallikattu supporters who work to help the sport gain international recognition, on the lines of horse racing.
“We treat the bulls like our family members. Since swimming is the best strengthening exercise, a huge water tank was converted into an exclusive swimming pool for them to swim around without risking injury,” Thondaman, Highway Minister of Uva province, who had served as the acting Chief Minister, told The Sunday Standard. Thondaman’s ancestors came from Pattamangalam in Sivaganga district.
They later moved to Sri Lanka during the British Raj, and reared bulls for generations. He has bred 10 bulls belonging to various native breeds himself.