MADURAI: The season of world-renowned Jallikattu of Madurai, a three-day festival of bull-taming sport, has drawn to a close. Prizes awarded to best tamers and owners of the finest bulls are now a point of discussion as towels and dhotis have paved the way for cars and household appliances as rewards with the size and stature of the sport growing over the last few years. While many consider that cars as the first prize have lifted the popularity of the festival, some believe these are not handy for the winners, mostly coming from the financially poor background.
For the 20-year-old R Karthick, the winner of 'best bull tamer' award in Avaniyapuram Jallikattu this year, the car he received as a reward for his bravery, is a means to settle the educational bills of his siblings. His cousin, M Karthick (32) told TNIE that the tamer, who secured the first prize by taming 24 bulls, is planning to sell the car he won in the event to pay off his younger brothers' school fee and take care of his own educational expenses.
“Providing a government job to the winner in addition to such prizes would be more encouraging to the participants,” he says.
Not just Karthick, several other tamers who participated in the Avaniyapuram, Palamedu and Alanganallur Jallikattu events have also urged the government to consider it as a sport and provide government jobs to winners so as to encourage the youngsters.
Renowned film director Thankar Bachan recently tweeted that the State government should rather think of replacing the cars with farming tools, cattle or land of the same value as that of the car. He said the fuel expenses would only burden the poor farmers.
S Prabakaran, the best tamer of 2022 Palamedu Jallikattu, who hails from an economically poor background, however, doesn’t agree. The car he won has not only helped him gain respect among villagers but also provided him a source of livelihood. Prabakaran also won the best tamer award in 2020, and second prize in 2021 Jallikattu events held in Palamedu. He won a car in 2020 and a bike in 2022.
"I have been interested in Jallikattu ever since I was a child. I started participating in the events in 2013 and have won the best tamer award 13 times in different districts across the State. When a tamer stands in the arena, all his focus would be only on the unleashed bull. We never play for prizes but always for pride," says Prabakaran.
"Before I won the car, the villagers would tag tamers like me as jobless people. Now, they call me 'the guy who won a car in Jallikattu'. Though we live in a small hut-like house, winning a car for my valour gives me much more pride. I could dream of building a house someday but buying a car is beyond our dreams because we obviously could not afford it. Despite many advising me to sell the car and use the money to build a house, I prefer keeping the car because it stands as a symbol for my valour," he said.
Having studied only up to class 9, Prabakaran earns his living by driving cars. Now that he owns one, it has become his primary source of income.
Though cars have become the highlight of the Jallikattu events since the 2017
Jallikattu protests, people like Pon Kumar, a Madurai-based engineer, have been gifting native cattle breeds to the owners of the best bulls.
Recalling the history of prizes distributed in Jallikattu, Former President of Alanganallur Jallikattu Organizing Committee, J Sundar Rajan said it all started with towels and dhotis. Later, the local companies came in and sponsored their products as gifts and used the ground for advertisement. Over a period of time, the value of prizes went up.
"Building a house and buying a car are two major dreams of most families here. Most tamers hail from lower class or lower middle-class. It is a matter of pride for them. Besides, not all the youngsters are into farming these days. They all have primary blue-collar jobs. On the other hand, farmers will already be equipped with farming tools," he said.
Seconding the request from the winning tamers who sought for government jobs, he further added that the committee would make a representation in this regard to the State government. They will also look for sponsors for tractors next time.
Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, P Moorthy, said during Palamedu Jallikattu that it was up to the Chief Minister MK Stalin to decide on the plea for government jobs.
(With inputs from Jegadeeswari Pandian from Madurai)